Snow Fun

Well we didn't get the predicted 2-4 inches of snow over the last couple of days, but we did get enough snow for the kids to play in this morning.

The girl was ready to go out at 8 AM...

The kids spent a good part of the time building snowmen - but they are not just ordinary snowmen ...the kids explained it all but I've forgotten. Two of the snowmen have their hands tied behind their backs for some reason...

"It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas..."

We finally got a "real" snow - about 5 inches.

The kids were very eager to get outside and were arguing over who was going to get the privilege of helping shovel the driveway. The girl got out there first so she began shoveling and doing a pretty good job of it.

My dh remarked that he could just loiter inside awhile longer and the driveway would be clear :)

"Is it a snow day?" the boy asked at breakfast. A "snow day" meaning "no school". I guess he thinks public/private school kids get "snow days" so they can stay home and play in the snow. He was hoping all the snow meant a no school day for homeschoolers too. That's one of the advantages of homeschooling...we can still do school when it's too nasty to go outside but we can also choose to make it a "snow day"...or a "sun day" or a "rain day" or "it's just too beautiful to be stuck inside today day".

I figure we'll still sneak in some educatin' today.

Northern Canadian Blood Triumphs Over Snow Filled Drive-way

This was one of those days when my hearty Northern Canadian blood, and vigorous weight lifting regime (slight exaggeration) came in handy.

It snowed. And snowed. And snowed. The kids were happy. Dh was at work. I was at home. The driveway was filled with about 10 inches of snow. What to do - what to do??

Since I had not performed any cardio activity today, I decided to go out and shovel the driveway. It was the light fluffy kind of snow on top - but kind of melty and slushy at the bottom. I could push the shovel some of the time - but still had to heave the snow over my shoulder when I'd come to the end of the row.

I included this photo so you could see the big pile of snow on the side to get an idea of how deep the snow was.

I didn't think I could do the whole driveway. A few times I thought about quitting. My wrist hurt the most. But since the city had not even plowed our street, I thought my dh would have a hard time even parking on the street if he couldn't get up the driveway - so I persevered.

It took me 1 - 1.5 hrs to do the whole driveway (no breaks). I was pretty proud of my work. Of course I had only been in the house for about 1/2 hr when the plow finally came down our street and pushed a huge pile of snow in front of the driveway - blocking access. I hummed and hawed wondering if my dh would be able to get up the driveway still - hoped he would be able to. I finally decided I ought to just go out and fix that little bit and it only took about 10 min.

Dh is somewhere on his way home - a drive that usually takes about 20 min at the most - has so far taken 1.5 hrs...

I know this doesn't sound like much snow to my Canadian kin - but it's a huge deal here.

I know this much - I could never move back up North... if the cold didn't kill me, the shoveling would!

Our First Real Snow

This morning the children and I went sledding. Over the weekend we got about 5 inches of snow - a big snowfall for these parts.

Since Saturday morning the children have been asking if we could go sledding. There is a park close by with some gentle sloping "hills"...steep enough for young kids to be excited about...but not so steep that you tire yourself out, tramping up and down.

It wasn't too cold out this morning - so it seemed like a good time to "hit the slopes" - need to make hay while the sun shines, or in our case - go sledding before the sun melts all the snow.

We got good and bundled up in ski pants, boots, mitts and hats.




We were having fun - when after about 1/2 hr my dd started complaining of "exhaustion". She tends to be very dramatic - so I figured she was exaggerating and decided a change of hill might do some good. We started walking over to another spot we sledded on last year - but the kids never made it. The girl plopped down in the snow - said she was too tired and was ready to go home.

When I took her up on her offer - suddenly she wasn't so tired - but I figured we'd go home.

Once home, she told me that actually she had been feeling sick this morning...headache and such - but wasn't sure if she was sick ((I imagine some of it was she did not want to miss out on sledding). I took her temp - she had a fever...sigh I gave her some Tylenol, she lay down on the couch and fell asleep...waking up and feeling improved some. I didn't have any soda in the house, and I knew she needed to be drinking something (she didn't want to eat)...so we went out to pick up, what we like to refer to as "liquid sustenance" - a.k.a. a Slurpee.

If a child is sick - we get a slurpee...it's cold, easy to drink and they love them.

I figured "t'is the season" (for sickness that is) - and am hoping the boy and the parents can avoid sickness this season...and that the girl's health improves before Christmas.