Our first real snowstorm of the year. We’ve been enjoying 50 and 60 degree days for a couple of weeks now. The local news had been warning about a snow storm. When we woke up Saturday morning though, it had just rained during the night. While we were doubting how strong the storm would be, it started snowing at about 7 and didn’t stop until about 4. We went outside after basketball and art class to play in the afternoon.
At first we tried sledding. The snow was wet and needed to be packed down.
We used the sleds for a while, but it was pretty slow. The first 15 minutes were spent pulling the girls up and down the hill to pack the snow track. J and E had to be reminded of the basic sledding rule several times: don’t walk up the path that people sled down. It is so much easier to walk up the packed snow that this is one of those rules that you can tell kids, but they do not really get why until they experience it. It didn’t take long. In some crazy way it seems funny when someone zooms down the hill towards you. Unlike a bike or scooter though, sleds don’t turn. One moment you’re laughing and the next you are on your bottom. After some tears, we decided to make a snowman.
The snow was so wet that it packed very well. We started the ball behind the house. By the time we reached the front yard, we had a hard time rolling it. E really wanted to put a hat on the snowman. I said that I was worried it would blow away into the street or someone’s yard. Instead, we cut some long grass and made hair. Usually E is not allowed on the ladder. I thought it would be OK for the photo. She was packed into her winter outdoor padding and the snow was pretty soft.
They both wanted to climb on the base when made it. They also wanted to put bird seed all over it. I think the idea was to add sparkles to the snowman. We cleaned up and went inside for dinner. Liz had made an awesome roast for dinner and we made s’mores in the fireplace for dessert.
When we woke up this morning the snowman had fallen down. There were a couple of possibilities: faulty construction, teenagers knocked it down or a herd of deer had toppled it while eating the bird seed. While I’d like to believe the deer were that talented, I think it was how we made it. We had to cut the mid section into pieces to lift them onto the base. It was 33 degrees out, the seams between them probably melted. 
November was a great month…. a beautiful hike in Walnut Woods State Park and Thanksgiving in Concord/ Durham were the highlights.
The weather has been especially mild this year, and in November, when we went for this walk, we thought it might be the last until April. Not true. But we still enjoyed it so much– the walk, playing by the river, and on the playground.
Our annual trip to New England for Thanksgiving was great, too. In addition to a wonderful feast with family and some very special friends at Aunt Margie & Uncle Peter’s, the girls got to go to the Boston Ballet’s Nutcracker with Granddaddy AND we all went to an amazing performance of Peter Pan, complete with LOTS of aerial wonders.
Thanksgiving Day was unseasonably warm and “seasonably” delicious!
For the Peter Pan trip, we all rode the T to and from the performance.
The girls enjoyed their special time with Granddaddy. He was very brave to take them both to Boston for lunch, then to the show, then back home to Concord…. by himself. We’ll see if he ever makes such an offer again…
It has been a long time since a post. Today is my Dad’s birthday (1/26) and I promised an update. Happy Birthday, Dad!
We’ve gotten out of the habit. It was much easier in Germany when we didn’t have a TV (or 4 seasons of Psych to watch), or weekends full of activities. Here’s a photo taken while we were driving back from Christmas in Illinois. We’d just had lunch with Jerry and Michelle. You can see all the kids were tired and the back of the car is filled with presents. In the next few days I spent 4 hours putting sand in a plastic tether ball base, mounting hardware in the ceiling to support the Hugglepod, breaking geodes on the driveway, and assembling baby doll beds. It was all pretty fun.
Liz got all the Little House on the Prairie episodes for Christmas. We’ve watched 25 episodes so far. The girls like it a lot. It is a good show, but the themes are a bit strong for 5 year olds. For example, I had to explain to the girls how the fleas on the rats eating the cheap corn meal brought to Walnut Grove by an unscrupulous businessman could bring the plague. Did the man who sold the corn meal in town know it would make people sick? J decided no. Her evidence was that the man who sold the corn meal got sick too. Why would he eat it if he knew it would make him sick?
E has shown that she is pretty sharp too. When preparing her room for the Hugglepod, Liz suggested that she move her bed to the wall since it would make more room. E pointed out that no matter where you moved the bed, you would not make any more room.