Our Snow Day!

~~~~~SNOW DAY~~~~~

Today is the first snow day of the year-- well, that'd be of the school year and of the new year I suppose.



We woke up to a winter wonderland of sorts, right here in our own backyard--literally. See



And in our front yard, too, of course. Here's a few good inches of snow covering our mailbox.

We saw it starting to snow around bath time last night (say 7ish), and it hasn't stopped since. We love snow days--mainly because we (I) romanticize them. But still, we love them!

We just don't always love the preparations it takes to get ourselves outdoors.

First, I will say that I am 8 months pregnant and fighting a little chest congestion problem. So the multiple trips up the stairs to search for winter gear was nowhere near fun. I was just hoping it would be worth it.

I was most certainly picturing lots of this action!

It took us 3o minutes to get everyone dressed in snow boots, snow suits, hats, gloves and coats. It is quite the workout to get four littles dressed in all this winter wear--especially since they can't do a lick of it themselves. Again though, I was just hoping it'd be worth it.

I imagined that once we won the battle of (getting) the bulge (on), we'd run into our snowy driveway and play the morning away. I was even more excited than normal because I was taking along my new camera for the ride.

So eventually we made it outdoors and onto the drive. The kids immediately took to the snow.

All but her.

It snowed a ton last winter, but it was always so cold that we never managed to make it out in the snow--plus one of our littles wasn't walking and we all know that complicates things further! So really, this was her first snow experience.

The poor thing could hardly walk. She kept reminding me of the "tic about to pop" from Christmas Story. So I tried pulling her on the sled, but that was a no go!

But my other 3 littles enjoyed a few minutes of snow play, and I more than enjoyed watching them.

They tried to catch snowflakes on their tongues.

They sled down our little hill of a drive.

They smiled when I said look at mama!

And of course there was a (just one) snow angel made.




And then the phone rang. It was the doctor (and we were waiting on her return call) so I had to take it. Of course this is the same time that my eldest runs inside screaming that her hands are stinging they're so cold. I gently ask her to run inside and wrap them in a towel--though I was still dumbfounded on how her hands were cold since she was wearing water-proof mittens.

I continue with the doctor, explaining symptoms and what not until my second-born decides it's potty time. Like, I potty now whether it be in my clothes or in the potty.

Oh, and then my "tic," who can hardly walk has slipped on our garage floor and is now crying.

I wrapped things up as quickly as I could with the doctor; and then I was sent on a mission to conquer the chaos that ensued in the 3 minutes it took for me to speak with our physician.

Seriously! This all happened. And then it was all over.

My one, lone little Bug managed to escape the chaos. Nonetheless, she was ready to come in.

So in we came. Luckily, Brownie made it to the potty and somehow managed to get out of her winter clothes in time.

Peach reported that she had taken her mittens off and that's how her hands got stingy. She was mostly calmed down at this point.

Boushka had no serious damage---nothing a little hug and kiss couldn't fix.

We all managed to make it out of our snow suits, boots, hats, coats and gloves before my floors were too soaked. I guess it helped that they only walked on the tile and not on any carpet. Phew!

I set the wet boots out in the garage, hung our coats and snow suits, and pitched the gloves and hats back into the bins. And then I plopped on the couch and thought, Yeah, never doing that again!

I feel bad about my attitude towards the fun I pictured that turned into chaos, but I can only be hopeful and assume that

1) Had I not been pregnant,

2) Had I not been fighting some chest congestion,

3) Had the phone call not happened,

AND

4) Had there been another adult with me

things just may have gone a bit better. The pregnancy/sickness combo, in case you don't know, makes it a bit tougher to breath and just generally move around. And the phone call... pretty sure it took too much of my attention for those few minutes that in turn allowed the CHAOS to ENSUE-- especially since no other adult was around!

So, lesson learned. Or maybe not. Because I am still picturing the fun times to be had in the snow--but I think I'll wait until Daddy is home to enjoy the fun with us!