Winteriffic

If you know me, you know I despise winter. Cold and I don't get along well. If I could, I would hibernate from January 2 (don't want to miss Christmas and New Year's) until oh... March 1. I don't like walking in the slush; I really don't like driving on ice; I get irritated with the way my nose runs and my eyes tear up when I come in out of the cold; and I hate the pile of boots and coats and snowpants and hats and mitts that has to live beside the front door; and I hate how long it takes to get it all on.

And yet... there is something about the first big snow that I love. It's so beautiful the way it clings to the trees and fences, pure bright white snow stretches out in a smooth blanket across fields, the scent of wood burning in fireplaces in cozy homes floats on the crisp air, and childrens' faces light up when they see it all for the first time each year.

So this past weekend, when I woke up on a Sunday morning that is the best a winter morning can offer--snug in my bed, no alarm clock, and a big picture window open on a wonderland--I thought I definitely need to learn to appreciate winter more.

So after I picked the girls up from their dad's place, we had a winter fun day Mommy style - inside. We made special hot chocolates with candy canes and whipped cream, put together a gingerbread house, periodically gawked at the snowscape out the window and stopped to delightedly exclaim "it's snowing again!"

I think I'm going to try to enjoy this winter. So far... I'm doing okay. We'll see what happens when it's time to go out and play in four feet of snow. ;)

My girls L.O.V.E. hot chocolates...


Even though Marissa was a little wary of the whipped cream at first.


So then we set out to build our gingerbread house (from a kit - I'm not that crafty). Marissa was just amazed at all the candy.


Bria worked hard. "I'm not sure I have enough gum balls for this":


Marissa commited a few random acts of silliness and then deserted us to go watch Wizard of Oz.


But we kept building and before long we had created what can only be dubbed "The Masterpiece!"


Which my awesome niece Rielly actually did most of the work on.


It was a great day. I hope I can keep up my winter-loving fun for the next few months. Heck, maybe I'll even let the kids enjoy winter kid-style: outside.