Snow is Falling......Again!!

The other day I posted about the wonder of the snow and how it forces us all to slow down. At the time I was truly enjoying being forced to relax and stay at home. Fast forward to a few days later and I was struggling to keep this perspective in place. Tuesday night we got pounded with over a foot of snow to add to the 20+ inches we had gotten a few days earlier. We live in Lancaster city and things get slightly crazy when it snows a lot. The city is not the best at clearing off the streets and there is really no where for all this snow to go. Cars end up getting plowed in. Many people have been putting chairs or garbage cans in their spots to claim them. Shamefully, we did do this earlier this week. One sort of feels entitled to a spot after they have spent several hours digging their car out.

Brian had school cancelled yesterday and today. Yesterday I started to feel slightly stir crazy by the afternoon but we managed to have a fun day indoors. This morning we woke up and decided to venture out. The roads are crazy in the city when it snows but because we live in the city there are many things close by that we can walk to. I called our friends, the Peters, and asked if they wanted to walk downtown to a local coffee shop. We met up at the end of our snowy street and proceeded to pull our kiddos on sleds down the sidewalk. Some people shoveled and salted out so well that at times we found ourselves dragging the sleds on the concrete instead of snow. Owen loved riding in the sled and enjoyed his cinnamon muffin at the cafe. :) He had so much fun that he tired out and fell asleep in his sled on the way home. Too cute!! Check out the picture below.

When we got home O went down for a nap and we started shoveling out parking spots. I actually have never had so much fun shoveling! We don't often see our neighbors in the winter because no one wants to go out in the cold. Everyone was outside today trying to shovel out cars and sidewalks. We all sort of helped each other and it made the task much easier. There is some sort of community feeling with people you don't even know very well when you are in these situations. I enjoyed getting to spend some time with our neighbors. The weather outside is actually quite beautiful. It didn't feel too cold and the sun was shining brightly.

Right now we are just relaxing and are thinking Brian might not have school again tomorrow. He already has the day off on Monday for Presidents Day. If he has tomorrow off it will have made for a 6 day break from school. We are definitely not complaining. :)

Snow is Falling

I am always skeptical when there are reports of big snow storms coming. I feel like people usually get all hyped up, all the milk and bread disappears from stores, people cancel plans and then nothing happens. This time I was totally wrong. We actually got more than they were calling for. There is something so sweet about snow that forces the world to stop and relax. Snow doesn't care about the places you were scheduled to fly, the things on your "to do" list or the people you were scheduled to see. It just comes and with it brings a sort of childlike excitement and wonder. You can't do a thing about it except watch it fall. It presents you with a choice to get annoyed about the places you can't go and the people you won't see or you can sit back and listen to the laughter of children sledding and the enjoyment of a good nap on a snowy day. Today we chose to just surrender and savor all the little joys the day provided.

Being stuck at home provided the perfect opportunity to spend the day as a family. O got his first sled last week from our dear friends the Gormans. What divine timing! We took him out in it today and pulled him up and down the sidwalks and the empty, snow-covered streets. He had a big smile on his face as he rode along and ran his hands through the fluffy snow. This time out in the snow instead of crying the whole time like he did back in December, he lasted for 20 minutes before deciding that the big poofy coat and pants he had on were just too much to bear. Bri spent 2 hours shoveling out our cars while O and I played inside. Bri did manage to take a break and come up to the door so we could feed him a handful of M&M's for some "shoveling energy". :) Of course, O and I had to eat a few as well because it is hard work watching someone shovel so much snow!

Right now we are waiting to put O to bed and then we are going to bake cookies and watch a movie. We already found out that church is cancelled tomorrow so we have another relaxing day on the horizon. I am soooo ready for sunshine and warm weather but I am thankful for this little break in the midst of a busy month.

O's Cake

You might have read my previous post about my new adventures in cake baking. I have embarked on a quest to perfect my cake baking skills and my sons first birthday proved as a lovely opportunity to practice. I think I still have much to learn about cake decorating but thanks to my friend, Mary Grace, I attempted to make the cake into the shape of the head of a teddy bear. Mary Graces youngest son was born on the same day as O, just a year earlier. She made her son a Lightning McQueen cake that could have seriously been sold in an expensive bakery. She has major skills. O was a good subject to practice on because I think he would have liked just about any cake we would have put in front of him. Below are the pictures of how it turned out. It is probably at the amateur level as far as birthday cakes go but I had fun doing it. My next adventure is to try to make the perfect chocolate chip cookie. Stay tuned......