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According to the local weatherman, we have had 15 winter storms this season. That sounds about right. I have been keeping track of the snow and ice storms by the number of times my daughters' schools have been cancelled. Two weeks ago, they finally went to school five days in a row for the first time since before Christmas! Then, last week, they were out again because of snow! At first we all loved it and they couldn't wait to sled and build snowmen.

But, eventually the novelty of putting on 15 layers of clothing for 30 mins of playtime wore off and they started to spend way too much time watching TV.  The excessive screen time reached a peek when I found my oldest daughter in front of the television, playing a computer game, while simultaneously chatting with a friend over FaceTime. I took this picture to document the startling modern play date.

"Enough!" I said. "There has to be something else you can do!" Both kids seemed shocked by the idea of getting off the couch. I challenged them.. If they could come up with an activity we could all do together or something that involved  creativity,  I didn't care if it made a mess or cost me yet more money in art and crafts supplies.

Since then, snow days have gotten a lot more fun. We've baked cookies, played board games and had dance parties. In no particular order, here are some of the other highlights of the winter we will always remember as the "Polar Vortex".

Nearly every night for weeks, the girls acted out scenes from the movie Frozen (fitting theme, I think!)   The cold never bothered them anyway!

My youngest daughter made beaded bracelets.  I'm still finding them in my Dyson.

My oldest daughter grew weary of making bracelets out of Rainbow Loom rubber bands (see my past Rainbow Loom Blog), so now she is making phone cases out of them.

We painted. A lot.

One morning, they cheered to be out of school, only to then play school for the entire day.

But my favorite moment was when my youngest daughter donned a laundry bag, tied it with a dog toy and turned her room into a fashion runway.

I'm thinking parts of this winter might not have been so terrible after all!

How was your winter? Follow me on Facebook (Sandra Bennett QVC) or twitter (SandraQVC) to and we will keep each other posted.