spicing up the mommy routine

there is no school this week and our fam is on the mend from a little visit from a virus. that equates to a home bound momma with three babes claiming to be bored. as a result, today required a little momma innovation. if you're a momma, you know what i'm talking about. it was one of those days that required me to think up new variations of things we do on a regular basis, trying to restore the joy that the activity once had. instead of "boring" art projects, we broke out the "special" bin of stampers and ink pads. we didn't play sorry or candy land, but dug deeper into the game cabinet for pick-up sticks and mix-max (a game i forgot i loved so much). we didn't dance to princess music, opting for Christmas music instead (it was a lovely performance, if i do say so myself).

and by 4:30, i had plum run out of "new" ideas. that is, until i noticed an empty basket that was once filled with toys in the family room. yesterday, those toys were relocated to a new spot in the house, leaving the basket open for opportunity. today, opportunity spoke.

we decided to play "babe in a basket". what's that? oh, i don't know. it's just a little game we made up to pass some time. we cushied it up a wee bit and took turns being... the babe in the basket. it wasn't the most inventive thing i've ever done. it was more like a last straw. but those ideas, those are the ones that get some miles around here.

here's small babe in a basket. she brought her raffie along for the experience.

and as you might have suspected, next came medium babe in a basket. if you look close you can see that she is holding onto soosie in her hand. yup. my near three year old still sucks a soose. guess we need to attend to that matter in the coming weeks. either way, she's delish.

last (or first, depending on your meaning) is large babe in a basket. i love how big she is and miss how little she is all from one little sitting in a basket. she did some fake crying (you know, acting like a babe) which made her sisters giggle over and over.

oh, and what are my kids doing right now? yeah, they are playing "nap" on the pull-out sofa. who knew that they had no idea we had a bed hiding under the cushions? i pulled that out a few minutes ago while uploading these snaps and they have been happily entertaining themselves.

do share! what do you do to spice up your mommy routine when you are confined inside?