Snow Day!

We've had a lot more snow this year than last year. Most of it melts away by the afternoon, so it's not really too bothersome for us. The kids love it - they want to build a snowman every time it snows. Today was great -- it wasn't too cold and the snow was just perfect for rolling snowballs, it was so sticky. Here's our morning in pictures.

Me: Kathryn, you need to put on pants, boots, a hat, gloves, and coat before you go outside.

Kathryn: I don't need pants!

Me: Okay, go ahead and go outside.

Approximately 2 minutes later...

Kathryn: MOM...I need pants!

Now she's ready to play in the snow. She is wearing boots but insisted on having the plastic bags too.

Joseph was also stubborn about wearing a coat. To his credit, it was probably near 40 degrees, so not as cold as it looks. After 20 minutes or so he decided a coat might be nice. He is wearing gloves though.

They are shoveling the backyard. We have to put that snow shovel to use somehow. I bought it in early January because I got tired of having 3 inches of packed snow on my front walk throughout November and December. Then, just as I predicted (Murphy's law!) we haven't had any major snow that lasted more than a few hours since then.

Rolling the snowball. They made this one all on their own.

Getting....hard....to....push...

I helped them stack the top two, then we decorated him. Joseph went inside right before this because his toes were cold and wet. He didn't wear his boots.

Kathryn went in when we started the snowman and found a warm corner where she could read some books. She wore underwear this morning, but it was a disaster. She refuses to actually use the toilet, even though she knows that's what is supposed to happen and that she will be rewarded well for doing it. I did borrow some plastic underwear/diaper covers, so at least she isn't getting our carpet dirty anymore. Today, she told me that she would use the potty "when I am grown up".

Back inside and getting ready for lunch. They wanted carrots for a snack! (How cool is that?) Then Joseph and Sarah wanted to peel and slice them, like they've been doing at school. So, I let them and we used the carrots to make a nice soup.

Less than 2 hours after finishing the snowman, this was the scene in the backyard.

I told you it was a "warm" day.

And what has our baby been up to lately? He was napping during our adventures in the backyard this morning. Yesterday he managed to get into the bathroom and play his favorite game: unroll as much toilet paper as possible before Mom or Sarah finds him. Then, proceed to shred it or eat it.

He is really fast and crawls all around the house. He is very strong and stable on his feet too. I have seen him standing up without holding onto anything for support for a few seconds at a time. He's an extremely curious and determined baby. He wants to explore everything and isn't easily distracted. (If he wants to pull on the laptop cord, putting him in another room with a flashy toy won't help. He crawls right back to the laptop as fast as he can.)

This was the snow yesterday afternoon. I know, it's not much compared to Utah, but I surprised at how it was coming down (hard to tell in the picture) in the afternoon in late February. Last year we had snow fall two times.