How to keep a nine year old occupied during a snow day

Baking.

That's my plan.  It's not a complicated one, and I'll reap the benefits in the forms of sugar free chocolate cake for her diabetic daddy, corn muffins for her to enjoy and chocolate chip cookies for the boy child and baby. 

Jess is at the age where she's pretty convinced that her brother was put on this earth to make her life miserable.  Despite evidence to the contrary, she persists in this belief system, and has concluded that the best way to respond is to make the child so miserable that he leaves.  Since he's five, and as far as I can tell, baffled and confused by her reactions (because I'd say at least seventy to eighty percent of the time, he's not even thinking of her), I don't think he's going anywhere.  But I do know that a full day home with them together is going to make me insane unless I keep her occupied. 

So we're baking today.  Baking and some fingerpainting.  Perhaps some baths.  I like snow days.  I like the unhurried pace, the relaxed atmosphere.  When they aren't trying to kill each other, my kids actually do play together very nicely.  They tend to break into two and one.  These days it's  mostly the two little ones and Jessie off on her own, but occasionally, we'll have the girls separate out and Sam will disappear into his room and immerse himself with army guys, blocks and fire engines.