Snow What?

You can tell it when the morning light is whiter and brighter. I can tell as the sun is coming up, before I ever look out, if there is snow by the way it reflects the light. Our kitchen is always sunny and bright in the morning (unless the morning itself is not sunny or bright),
but look how white the light is on these children who can hardly eat their cheerios:

Even Baby J, from one of his favorite perches,
could gaze out at the snowy landscape:

That is total extent of his snow adventure.
Next year might be a different story.

And then they get out in the snow.
For some reason, this picture with the play set
makes it look like we got much less snow than we
actually got. Maybe I took it a day or two
after the initial snowfall.


Kids running around in the snow
---that's what pure joy looks like.

If you make the next picture larger,
you will see the radiant smile on
Sweet T's little red cheeked face...


I might have better pictures
if I had actually gone outside.
Some of these pictures I took through windows.
A couple of times I actually went out on the porch.
I am content to watch my children have fun in
the snow; I have no desire to participate.
The boys especially had fun this week.
They were funny to watch, running all the way
to the end of our property as fast as they could,
puffs of frozen breath rising from their distant figures.


I have so enjoyed seeing the bond between Big E and
Sweet T as they have both grown older. Sweet T works
so hard to keep up with his big brother in every way
and he is usually not far behind.

Here's a good thing about home schooling and snow: we have the best of both worlds (cue Miley). The kids can play out and enjoy the snow and we can still get our school work done for that day. The public schools missed some days recently that seemed very unnecessary. Of course the kids are all excited about missing school at the moment--remember the thrill of seeing your school's name on the snow bird report. "We're out!" you would shout with triumphant joy. But it's not so fun when those days are taken away from your spring break or tacked onto the end of the school year.

I hope these are the last snow pictures I take
until the other end of the year. I have had my fill
(but that doesn't take much).
I have even heard some of you snow enthusiasts
saying enough already with the snow.
Don't worry.
It's almost March!
We're headed toward spring.
That's the best time of the year,
so inspirational and invigorating
and full of the beauty of God's creation.
And it's coming!
Woo-hoo!

Oh, remember that I said I have no desire
to participate in the snow activities?
That is true.
But let's face it, I get to participate whether
I want to or not. And I'm not talking about making
the hot chocolate (though I did that).
You know what Mama's role is in the whole
"can we play in the snow?" adventure:

I really don't mind though.
A pile of wet winter clothes means
that I have children healthy enough to play outside.
For that, I am thankful.