Snow Day

I realized several days ago that I had not seen the sun nearly this entire month. A combination of going to work when it's dark, getting home when it's dark, and long stretches of gloomy, cloudy days have made my exposure to sunlight next to nil. My vitamin D stores have definitely been depleted.

That is why, driving home Sunday morning, even though I was post-call from a strenous night on Trauma, when I saw blue skies, I was determined to make it outside.

Ignore the fact that it was 15 degrees. Ignore the fact that it was rather windy. Ignore that fact that it was 4 degrees with the windchill. We did.

We focused on the fact that the sky was blue, the ground was covered in new snow that glistened and sparkled, and that the entire world looked magical.






We bundled the boys in snow pants, parkas, scarves, hats, gloves, snow boots (after all, it did feel like 4 degrees.)


We then trucked through the glistening snow to the hill at school for some sunshine and snow.

Inner tubing...



Snow angels...




Blaise insisted that he wanted to swing. When I said the swings were covered with snow, he calmly, in his three year old list, reassured me that he could just wipe the snow off.



The afternoon was good for the cabin fever I'm sure was starting to descend on the boys. There was plenty of laughing, screaming, and completely darling children.









After everyone was sufficiently chilled, we trekked back home through the blue shadows for hot cocoa and dry socks.


It is truly amazing that a few hours with a inner tube, a snowy hill, and a blue sky can be thoroughly therapeutic.

This is truly what memories are made of.

Well, Almost

I'm glad that the boys and I took advantage of the beautiful day we had earlier this week.

Overnight, the beautiful spring rain turned to snow.


Well, I guess a Utah March wouldn't be complete without it. I just hope I'm not saying the same thing in April.

Off and Running

Another sunny, slightly warmer day greeted us today.

Beautiful view of the mountains
(Although there is still a little too much snow on them)

And as we had the entire afternoon to ourselves, I decided to pull out the bicycles.

Roman took off like it hasn't been almost 5 months since he last rode his bike.

Roman is happy to be back on his wheels

Off and running

Blaise, on the other hand, is taking another step from baby to little boy.

Last summer, we put Roman's old tricycle together for Blaise. But, of course, since he was only just 2 year old, he was too little to ride it. His feet didn't even touch the ground. So we put the tricycle away, and bought him a little pedal-less scooter thing (ya know, the things really little kids ride...what are they called...anyhoo...) Well, he loved it. And could go suprisingly fast on it. But during the months of being cooped up during the winter, and in the process of being, well, being Blaise, he broke off both handles of his little boy bike.

So it was time to pull to tricycle back out. (Thank goodness it remained assembled.)

Blaise, looking very pleased with
his new, more grown up set of wheels

He loves it. Even though he refused to use the pedals today.

Okay, this picture has no point
I just thought it was funny

Turns out, he can go even faster on this one.

Even harder to keep up with now

Sledding

We haven't been sledding in a very long time.

That's because the last time we went, Roman sat by the car and cried the entire time. Okay, he was three or four, and didn't like anything cold, or wet, or fast. So obviously, sledding wasn't going to be right up his alley. But we tried. And then never went back.

Until Friday.

No matter how much I dislike winter, I can't stand being coped up inside. So I arranged to meet up with my mom and take my boys and her girls sledding.

We bundled them up as much as we could. And then we chose a nice, small hill.

I took Roman down once with me. And then he agreed to go with my little sister.

Galilee (my little sister) and Roman,
about to set off on their first run of the day

There they go!

After we got the inner-tube pumped up, he agreed once again to try it out with me. And then, to my amazement, he spent the rest of the time there, sledding down the hill on the inner-tube. By himself!

The look of a brave six-year-old

And then the look of happiness!

And every time Roman got to the bottom, he would jump up off the inner-tube, stick his arms in the air, and yell at the top of his lungs, "That was totally wicked!!." Every time.

I took Blaise down, and like expected he laughed the whole way down. At the bottom he immediately wanted to go again. However, one more ride down the hill, and he was done.

Like I said, he was done.
(My mom thinks I'm mean for taking and posting
pictures like this.
I think they're funny.
What do you think?)

Since he is only two, we can still "make" him go down. Which we did. I mean, I can't just leave him up there at the top of the hill by himself.

Blaise, getting a ride back up the hill with Grandma

When the sun set, it was time to go home. Blaise was crying and Roman was laughing.

And today, they both think they had a wonderful time.

Once There was a Snowman

I don't like winter.

It's cold, the boys and I are stuck inside, and we can't do a lot of our favorite things.

Despite all this, even I can't help occasionally getting in the mood for some snow fun.

We've gotten quite a bit of snow lately, mostly the powdery kind.

But yesterday there was a new fall of soft, squishy snow. And the temperature was a little bit warmer.

All of this, of course, adds up to the perfect snowman making conditions.

So after school, I bundled Roman and Blaise up and we went outside to make "the biggest snowman ever."

All bundled up and happy
With a smile that breaks through all the cold

Yep, perfect snowman snow.

We rolled the balls around until they were too heavy for us to move. Which also lead to the problem that I couldn't lift the snowball that was supposed to be the middle. So, being the clever mom I am, we made a snow ramp. (And woke up with sore shoulders. It was that heavy.)

Blaise helping Mom push the snowball for the bottom
and just being cute

Roman, pushing his snowball all by himself
(To show how "strong I am!")

Viola, the "biggest snowman ever!"

Roman with our masterpiece

And yes, it probably is the biggest one we've made.

And the happiest.

Visions of Sugar Plums...

Well, actually, we were having visions of cookies.

I had set today aside for making cookies. (It had to be today, since I'm going back out of town for more interviews for the rest of the week, and then it is off to the frozen white north for Christmas when I get back.)

I can never decide what kind of cookie to make, so I made three kinds of dough: butterscotch chip-pecan, milk and white chocolate chip, and butter cookies. (I also wanted to make snicker doodles, but those will have to wait.)


I made the dough while the boys were at school, so there wasn't any disagreement about whose turn it was to stir or who had added more chocolate chips.

After braving the couple inches of new snow to pick the boys up, it was time to bake!

The boys scooped, and pressed extra chips into the tops, helped with the cookie press, and shook sprinkles. Halfway through, Blaise decided that he was good just eating the butterscotch chips.


Three fun-filled, sticky hours later...


Sweet success!

Aren't they cute cookies?