Bringin' the Snow Inside

Too cold and windy to go out and play in the snow?  Bring the snow inside!  What a fun morning activity!  Our pirate water ship made a great container.  We just added a tarp underneath.  Emma wore her waterproof gloves, but Lauren had to change her mittens when they got too wet.

Snowman Fun

Emma and Scott built two snowmen with accessories during Lauren's nap.  When she woke up, I bundled her up to join the fun.

Frosty

Big snow, big fun!  These snowman accessories were a Christmas gift.  Scott and Emma found the sticks in the treeline behind our house.  Later that day when Emma and I returned from an errand, we noticed the sticks were missing.  About an hour later, we looked out the back windows and saw two boys using them as swords and bats to hit rocks nearby.  I opened the sliding glass door and questioned the boys who said the sticks were theirs.  They had left them in the trees on a previous day.  Finders keepers?

Bundled Up

Emma is bundled up and ready to dive into the snow with her new snowsuit, hat, scarf, gloves, and boots!  Kids grow so quickly that they truly need new gear every year.

Snow Days

When the blizzard of 2011 hit central Illinois, we were shut in for 3 days. A neighbor hired a local farmer to plow most of our street with his tractor. (Because the cul-du-sac appeared to be plowed, the city felt it was good enough, and the area in front of our house was never cleared. It took Scott several days to carve a path for us to leave.) The huge pile created by the tractor became a sledding and snowboarding hill for the kids. But we were too overprotective to let Emma get in the mix. She was able to watch them from the playroom window on quite a few occasions. We ventured to the backyard for some of our own playtime in the snow. A drift provided Emma a nice climbing challenge.

First Snow

When we got our first snow in early December, Emma was eager to get out and play. We were all bundled up, but I still thought it was mighty cold. We jumped in the deep snow, scooped with little shovels, and rode around in the sled . . . once. Emma preferred to be IN the snow. She was so upset when we decided to come in after 25 minutes. Yes, we are wimps, well, I am. I thought her two pairs of mittens and coat sleeves were not staying overlapped. It was also spitting an icy snow. I think I'll make a pair of wrist warmers to bridge the gap before our next snowy adventure.