Snow Days

This is our first winter in our new house and neighborhood and I am happy to report what happens around here on a true-blue snow day. Kids everywhere (often in frighteningly large, loud, crazy groups), moms (I shall remain nameless) realizing they never bought snow boots for their kiddo and so sends her out in thin rubber gloshes, good friends, ages ranging from 4-11 all playing together, happy faces, cold noses, even colder toes, pleas for hot cocoa with extra, extra whip (I obliged), 10 happy kids dropping wet things all over my house, and hallelujah! a fire place and movies to finish up a c-c-c-cold afternoon.

Let me show you...

syd, elisa, jack, katherina. aren't they all so beautiful?

time for the real fun...

 sledding. they actually spent a LONG time sledding down a hill in our neighborhood...

but i stayed home, so this is all i got!

 sisters!

this is what my foyer looked like after 10 crazy kids played in the snow for 3 hours and then tromped to my house for hot cocoa (with extra, extra whip. of course!) and a movie. 

i loved every minute of it!

 second floor view. 

it was much worse in person...i wish i could have really captured it!

can you find 9 kiddos in this pic? they're all there. the 10th is off to the side...i couldn't fit him in.

and one TUCKERED dog.

i forgot about the popcorn and marshmallows.

believe it or not, they all went out for ROUND 2 after the movie. undeterred by the c-c-c-cold.

i love snow days. they make happy, happy kids and happy, happy memories. 

and i love big rugs. big rugs in foyers. thank you, Jesus, for the big rug in my foyer.

that helped me not lose my mind today.