We (heart) Snow Days!!

One of my earliest memories is being snowed in at my Aunt June's farm. I remember waking up, I think in a pull out bed, and looking out the window to see a wall of snow in front of me. We spent the day sitting by the fireplace until our backs burned (not literally, the fire was just very warm and cozy). I was very young at the time and can't be sure that what I recall is actually my own memory of how it happened, or if I have just heard the story so many times that it feels like a part of my memory. But either way there is something about huge snowstorms that is so memorable.

The great blizzard of 2011 arrived, and on Wednesday morning we woke up to this:
 A huge snow drift covering the front of the garage...


 




















More snow drifted from the ground up to the level of our windows. Typically I can walk through this area of our side yard, and not even get close to being able to see in the window because I'm just not tall enough. It was so strange to see the ground at window level! Our front windows were all the same too, and our front door was blocked in with at least a foot of snow as well.


 We made some pancakes ~ the really healthy kind, of course, to prepare us for the physical demands of a long morning of shoveling. M&Ms for Alyssa and Emma, and babycakes for Rebekah. Yes, unfortunately that's a pile of M&Ms on Rebekah's breakfast plate. She only likes plain pancakes, but still wanted the same treat she saw her sisters having.


 We headed outside and it took quite a while to clear the front of the garage doors, just so they could open and close again.


 There were also giant snow drifts on the other side of the garage, the girls loved it!!


 This is looking down our driveway at about the point when I felt like I might as well be out there with a teaspoon moving the snow. The snow was actually really beautiful looking, very sparkly and glittery. Everything seemed so peaceful covered in the huge blanket of white.


 Still loving the snow, and even eager to help shovel. Tiny shovel-full by tiny shovel-full Rebekah kept putting the snow in the small areas we managed to clear.


 Alyssa and Rebekah had enough of the cold so they went inside, but Emma trudged off through the backyards to our next door neighbor's house to find her friend, Jaydon. As she turned to walk away here, she said, "This snow is Awesome!" A girl on a mission.


 




















She found Jaydon and his little brother Mitchell, which kept all three of them busy.


 Did I mention yet that our driveway is massive? We would have been out there the entire day if our neighbor hadn't kindly offered to help. After he arrived with his snow blower, I politely threw about five more shovels full of snow, I didn't want to make it seem like I was passing my work off to him. It soon became apparent though, that I was mostly in the way of Dave and our neighbor so I excused myself to go make lunch.


 Alyssa had an assignment to create an underwater scene over the snow day, so the girls also had a lot of fun painting.


 




















We also tried to make some sponge paint snowflake art. It turned out bright and colorful although none of them turned out exactly like the example we were following.


About four o'clock on Wednesday is when the snow went from being beautiful and overwhelming to being just plain fun. MPS decided to cancel school for Thursday as well, due to some roads, school parking lots and bus stops still being buried in snow, but on our end, all the hard work was completely done. The plows had been through our cul de sac leaving us with this beauty...
 Our very own sled hill right in the middle of our street!!


It was perfect...
 


 


 


 I'm not sure why, but I loved this picture of the girls climbing up the hill until...


 One fell down and sent the rest tumbling after.


 Rebekah crawling out of the igloo our neighbor's kids made.


 Click on this photo to see happy faces :-)


 The girls were back in school today, and there is something nice about routine. But there is something really, really nice about the routine being interrupted and making new snow day memories!