Snow, again.

Snow, again. This storm was the day before the first day of spring (and two days before Easter). We had an Easter egg hunt in our living room again this year. We heard that this winter got the second most snow on record, ever, for Milwaukee. (We would need 13 more inches to make it the snowiest winter ever recorded in Milwaukee). And before this storm, the snow had just started to melt and we could see the little brown blades of grass and mud that had been covered in snow for months. Oh well. Hopefully spring will come before we move in May or June.

Snow Day

In the spirit of catching up on posting photos to the blog, here are some from a fun snowstorm that we had on February 6th. It was the biggest storm that we were around for this winter (I don’t know if Milwaukee got any bigger storms while we were gone in December and January). It was actually a “fun” storm because everything got cancelled – Michael’s school, the kid’s preschool, swim lessons, and church – and our whole family just got to stay home and spend time together (and none of us had to go dig out the car to get anywhere on the icy roads). That night, after the big snowfall, the Kearls came over and we took the kids out to play in the snow (except Isaac and Katie, they were happy to stay inside where it was nice and warm). The boys (including Michael and Tyce) had a lot of fun playing in the snow out in front of our apartment building. And then we all came in afterwards and enjoyed some hot chocolate – this is a tradition with our boys every time we go out to play in the snow – they would probably feel like some great injustice had been done to them if we went out in the snow and then they weren’t promptly offered a sippy cup of “warm chocolate” [they don’t like to eat/drink anything that is too hot, so I have to tell them that it is just warm chocolate to get them to drink it]. I got some fun video of Michel throwing the boys into the deep powder, but later realized that I hadn’t changed any of the lighting settings on the camera and it was dark out, so you can’t really see anything on the videos. Oh well, the pictures turned out cute too. (Oh, and in case you couldn't tell what the one close-up snow photo is, it's the handle to our back door totally covered in snow). Enjoy!

Winter in Milwaukee

I know I complain about the winter here in Milwaukee, but there are some nice things about it:

• If I don’t feel like bringing in the groceries from the car, it is cold enough to just leave them in the trunk until Michael gets home from work to help me.

• My children’s constant runny noses that last all winter long here make me look forward to visiting my family in San Diego where the noses clear up almost immediately.

• We don’t have to wait for the water from our kitchen sink faucet to cool down – it is always nice and cold right away.

• Every once in a while the schools and businesses close for a snow day.

• It’s nice to stay inside sometimes and light some candles, wear fuzzy slippers, and wrap up in a blanket to get cozy – as long as you don’t have anywhere to go.

• The snow provides an opportunity for service – there is always someone in need of shoveling their car out or giving their car a push.

• The few times that there is a big snowstorm, it is really fun to bundle up the kids and go out to play for a few minutes, as long as it isn’t too cold and windy.

• Hot chocolate.

• Sometimes it’s fun to change up your wardrobe twice a year when the sweaters come out and then when they go back away again.

• The snow is really quite pretty after it falls (and before the cars drive by and make it all grey by the sides of the roads).

Actually, we had a beautiful big storm yesterday and then went out to play in the snow with the boys last night and it was very nice. As long as there is enough snow that Michael doesn’t have to go to work and all of the kids’ classes and appointments get cancelled so we don’t have to go out in it with all the kids, it is really nice to have a big storm every once in a while. But I have to say, visiting San Diego in December and being able to walk outside with the kids to play in the yard barefoot sure is a pleasant contrast to the lengthy bundling and un-bundling event that takes place every time I have to take the kids out of the house in the winter here.