Add a little water...

So Abby has been taking longer morning naps (sometimes), which gives the boys and I some time to be creative and engage in more extended activities. This morning we started off considering finger painting. We got the paint and paper out and then the kids just didn't get into it. Sam painted for maybe 3 minutes, Matthew preferred instead to just stack the jars of paint into little towers and I was left with partially engaged kids for less than 5 minutes despite about 10 minutes of set up.

 Then I moved onto my next idea: car/toy wash. I had planned to get out a tub of soapy water for the kids to wash their hands in post-painting, but since they didn't get into the painting, I decided to make the tub of soapy water the main event. I filled a dishpan with 1 inch of water and a little soap, brought over some cars and Little People figures and told the kids it was time for them to give their toys a bath. I gave them washcloths and instructed them to wash behind the ears and let them go. The toys I brought over were carefully washed and set on towels to dry and then more and more and more toys were brought over to the wash. Soon the tub was filled to within an inch of the top with toys and was surrounded by other clean toys. And the boys were occupied for almost an hour. And Abby was still sleeping. So we ended up with 1) clean toys, 2) slightly wet =, but happy boys, 3) a relaxed mom and 4) a well-rested Abby. All in all, a pretty good morning.

And of course, I have to include a picture of Abby...