Snow day

I thought I woke up this morning in Ohio.

Why? Preschool was canceled due to SNOW. Yes, SNOW. And, yes, I was still in TEXAS. Wow, was I ever wrong about this.

David and Mary--and every other child in the Dallas-Fort Worth area--were excited and scrambling to get outside. The first thing Mary told me this morning was that she wanted to make snow balls and throw them. David was making similar plans. I convinced them to watch another show (or two...or three...) on PBS before going outside. (Do they really need to be in the snow at 7:30 in the morning?)

Our saviors today were Dave and Ale, who drove over this morning for the express purpose of playing in the snow with the kids. Hooray! They brightened what would have otherwise been a rather dull and monotonous day.

While we were waiting for them to arrive, I embarked on the enormous undertaking of outfitting my children. I HATE dealing with winter gear. I hate buying it, I hate keeping track of it, and, most of all, I HATE squeezing my children into it all--the layers of clothes, the coat, the boots, the socks, the BLASTED THUMB of the mittens. I can barely handle helping my kids into their pajamas without screaming bloody murder, let alone ten individual fingers on a tiny pair of gloves. Putting winter gear on toddlers and preschoolers brings out the WORST in me as a human being. We're talking Heart of Darkness here.

So this winter was supposed to be my free pass, right? Hello, people, I'm in Texas. Now, I know Texas can have some nasty winter days. But I did my research, performed my calculations, and (knowing closet space here would be somewhat limited), LEFT ALL OF OUR WINTER GEAR IN STORAGE. We could survive just fine without it, right? We own good quality snow pants, gloves, boots, and hats all in a variety of sizes, but we came here with NOTHING. (Besides a too-small unlined winter coat for David that I tossed into a suitcase at the last minute--thank goodness.)

And what happens? The coldest, snowiest, nastiest Texas winter in memory. Of course. OF COURSE. Fortunately, two winters in Ohio toughened us up. So this winter is still my free pass. While other moms meticulously bundle their preschoolers from head to toe, my kids show up at school sockless wearing thin jackets and Crocs. Hey, I still consider 4o and up to be balmy weather. And 55 qualifies as summer. Even in Ohio my children rarely wore coats and never wore gloves. Why would I start now?

ANYWAY, what I learned this morning is that the only thing worse than outfitting your small children in winter gear is outfitting them for winter WITHOUT the gear. (The horror! The horror!) It requires so much more BRAIN POWER and so many more LAYERS. But 12 socks, 6 pairs of pants, 1 unlined winter coat, 2 hoodies, 1 fleece pullover, 4 shirts, 1 set of Hello Kitty rain boots, 2 gloves, 1 pair of Crocs (yes, I sent my firstborn into the snow wearing CROCS), 2 mittens, and 1 hat later, we were finished. Phew!

And by then Tio and Tia had arrived.

Everyone (and by "everyone" I mean Roderick the Dog too), headed out back for a snow ball fight.

Poor Mary. She liked the IDEA of snow so much more than the snow itself. She got snow in her mouth, which freaked her out. And she HATED the falling snow. (She thought it was getting her yucky. When snow got on her mittens, she took them off because they were dirty from the snow. Then when she noticed snow had gotten on her pink jacket, she took it off too. Then she saw that snow had landed on her purple jacket, so she took that off. All those layers of hard work came sliding right off.....but when she started taking off her shirts, I intervened and forced her back into everything.)
So does that picture remind you of this one from this post? Yeah, Mary is not a snow bunny at heart.

Meanwhile, the battle continued.
David prepared his ammunition.
And Tia was a frequent target.
Fortunately, Mary wasn't a total boob the whole time. At the very least, she enjoyed licking her "boogies."
Finally, the snowman-making began. (Mary was SO EXCITED about this.)
Mary and Tia finished up the snowman together.
Ta-duh!
Meanwhile, the boys began work on a snow fort.

David took his job very seriously.
Eventually, all those layers were soaked through, and it was time to head indoors.

Inside, in the warmth, the foursome enjoyed a coloring puzzle together.
And, of course, some hot chocolate.
With lots of marshmallows.

(Or cold white milk with a spoon.)

Mmmmm.

Then we decorated the Valentine's cookies that were meant for Mary's class party today. (These kids are going to be celebrating Valentine's Day all the way through next Tuesday!)

And Tio Dave introduced us to a new recipe.

Now I introduce you to the M&M Sandwich.

It was a big hit.

That afternoon responsibility and real life (jobs, school, homework) called on Ale and Dave, and they had to leave. So I put Mary down for a nap, put David on the computer, and put myself to bed. I've had a hard time sleeping again lately, plus my children aren't going to sleep through the night until they're 23, and I was getting seriously sleep-deprived...so it was a glorious two hours. (Yes, I let my child play computer for TWO HOURS STRAIGHT. Because that's the kind of mom I am. On snow days, anyway.*)

My mom and I took the kids and ventured out to pizza for dinner. It was good to have a reason to brush my hair. And to not cook dinner.

Then I put David and Mary in a nice warm bubble bath. (Don't all snow days include a nice warm bubble bath at some point?)

And now they are asleep.

As for tomorrow? We get to do it all over again.

(Is that a good thing or a bad thing?)

* Okay, and some other days too.