A Snowy Day

As Forrest and I were getting ready to go to bed on Sunday night, we looked out the window and saw a few snowflakes falling down to the wet ground. The last thing I wrote in my journal that night was, "I wish I could keep the kids home from school tomorrow for a snow day."

Little did I know we'd wake up to this:

Jacob was the first one to notice the blanket of white, and wasted no time suiting up in his snow gear. Noah soon followed.

The biggest snowball I think I've ever seen.

The neighborhood was so beautiful. There's something magical about snow.

I forgot to mention that we got a little more than we bargained for; we also woke up to no electricity. It wasn't long before the kids were yearning for some much needed heat, so Forrest fired up the camping stove to use as a hand warmer.

It also doubled as a place to prepare my lunch (sauteed radishes and red mustard greens from the produce box.)

Forrest diligently shoveled the snow in the driveway for a safe walking path, and transferred it to the front yard for this monstrous snowman (ours was the biggest in the neighborhood.)



Forrest even crafted a wooden pipe for his mouth.




While it was a lot of fun, the novelty of a snow day soon wore off. By late afternoon, I realized that without heat or electricity our house was becoming destitute. The kids had gone through all of their warm clothes (they were soaking wet from playing out in the snow) and I had no way to dry them. I tried to give them a bath, but they ended up with only about 6 inches of lukewarm water. We had cereal and cold sandwiches for dinner, when what we longed for was a hot meal. Forrest had to go to work that night, so I was left alone with the kids in a cold, dark house. We went out and got some hot chocolate then drove around and looked at Christmas lights to pass the time. Finally, at about 8:30 we came home and lit as many candles as we could, then I had all the kids pile into bed with me. The thermostat on my car read 28 degrees, and there was no way I was going to put them in their own beds. I was so grateful when I awoke around 11:30 p.m. to the sound of the central heat running and the glow of the night light from my bathroom. The thermostat in our house read 52 degrees... brrrrrr! I will try never to take electricity for granted again.