Snow Play

As expected, our church had to cancel the 9 a.m. service. Well not the service but the religious education components. My Rob's coming of age was cancelled, and all the programs for younger kids. That was a blessing as there was no way I was going to try and drive to church in this weather. It began snowing about 8:30 last night. KC was still awake and he and i watched the first flakes starting to drift down under the light of the street light. It snowed all night. It is still snowing. See a theme here! It isn't a rapidly accumulating storm, and it is the light, fluffy kind of snow, so it isn't hard to shovel either.

I offered to tow KC down to Dunkin Donuts for a bagel. He has one every Sunday morning, but he decided that he might not like that. So he opted for his usual cheerios, eaten in record time, and a promise of playing in the back yard. I had barely cleaned up the kitchen from breakfast (the rest of the troops had french toast) when he was standing there, tapping his little toes, 'wondering' if I was ready yet! So it was time for the long underwear etc and getting ready to go out.

I actually don't have a lot of cold weather wear myself. I tend to borrow Rob or Chet's pants. Rob's fit me better than Chets, which are really big on me. I do have some thermals of my own that I wear underneath. Someday I'll win the lottery and have under armour and be really warmer when we are out, but for now, this suffices. I wear Robbie's old boots too. He is in that "man child" phase of growth where a lot of his stuff also fits me. A year or so from now that will be gone and I'll either have to spring for getting my own, or save his castoffs from this year.

I got Lissa suited up as well. She hasn't had as much snow play as her brothers. KC started really young. Mostly because he has always been a tiny little thrill seeker. I remember holding him while sliding down our hill when he wasn't a year old and him chortling with glee. Lissa has been more wary about the whole deal, though I did take her out several times last year and pull her in the toddler sled. (it has a seat belt so she can't fall out). Today though, she knew she didn't want to be left out and suited up, even to the mittens which she detests and which I made clear were not negotiable.

One thing she can do at 2 is walk in the snow a lot better and easier than her big brother KC when he was that age. Maybe the difference in height but she doesn't get exhausted from the effort the way he did. When KC was 2 I spent a lot of time carrying, pulling and sliding but he didn't spend a lot of time walking because 1/2 way across our back yard he would get tired and fall down. Not Lissa! She marched all the way to the back of the yard to the swingset so she could slide into the puffy snow bank. She marched back across the yard and slid down the hill with me. She made snow bricks with our brick maker. She was busy and had a blast. After about 20 minutes her hands were cold so I brought her in to Kirsty who took off the zillions of layers and settled her for a nap.

The boys and I stayed out much longer, playing and trying out their snowshoes. KC is really getting the hang of the walking style you need for shoeing. I think by the end of this winter or the beginning of next year, he'll be ready for some short hikes with them. There is a wildlife sanctuary in our town where we can snow shoe. I'd like to take him there. Rob too. Rob is a more experienced snowshoer, having had his pair longer than KC has.

I am sort of cold despite having chugged down a cup of coffee when we got in, but it was still worth it. The opportunities we have to make memories with our children are as fleeting as a snowflake on a mitten by our pellet stove.