Gem Jar

Around the House of Halpin, the hour or so between getting supper cleaned up and bedtime prep can be a hard one to fill. Jeremy and I are worn out from a busy day and are feeling less than creative, but the Guys are raring to go! Most nights we jump from one random toy or game to the next, but I have found that the nights I have an activity planned are so much more fun and less chaotic.

So I had an idea: We crafted a jar full of great evening activities, most of them special (go for ice cream, build an obstacle course), some of them more ordinary (color together, read books), but all of them are things the whole family can do together. Each night, one of the Boys will randomly draw out a gem and we will start our activity!

Last night, the Boys and I hunted for the perfect "gems" for our jar and found some wonderful glass stones. They are perfect, smooth and shiny! I can just imagine little hands stirring them up and fingering their smoothness as they carefully make their selection.

Above, they are washing our gems. I guess glass stones sit around on the shelves of Hobby Lobby long enough to collect quite a bit of dust!
Drying our gems.
Notice the Boys are now missing some clothing. Right after the last picture, Noah dumped the whole bowl of water out all over himself and Brother.

O and Nosy actually had so much fun playing with the stones that it occupied them the entire time I cooked supper! We got out bowls and spoons, whisks and pans. Gems make great ingredients for cooking!

Claiming a gem

Each Boy got to decorate his own gem. The night it is chosen, he gets to pick any activity he wants!

We can't wait to start putting our gem jar to good use!