NC Snowpocolypse

The kids and I had crossed our fingers for weeks and it finally happened -- SNOW!

(And when I say that it snowed, what I really mean is that it snowed for 5 minutes and then turned into freezing rain for the next 12 hours.)

But that wasn't a problem at all.  We pulled out the sleds and were thrilled when we found that the solid ice was ideal for sledding.  We discovered that when we started at the top of our yard, it had the perfect decline for sledding all the way back to our property line.  A few times we had to break hard so we didn't fall into the creek back there!  The houses across the street from us also have seriously steep driveways -- so steep that we didn't buy them because we couldn't even drive our low-riding Camry up them without scraping the bottom the car.  But they're also ideal for sledding.  I helped Skyler and Aanya (Lily's friend and our neighbor) get over their fear of sledding.  I'd say it was a successful day.

Lily and Skyler were outside for 8 hours on Tuesday.  Two thumbs up from this mom!

The ice was the coolest texture!  It was like huge granules of sugar.

My little babies watching the bigger babies.

The next day the older three kids played a human bowling game that involved a sled and human pins.  They had a blast and didn't get hurt so I didn't stop them.

Take 2: Thursday we got another short snowstorm.  Lily spent half the day at Aanya's house and they spent the rest of the day here making cookies and playing in the snow as it fell.

The kids ended up having 4 days of school cancelled this week.  And while many parents get annoyed with it, I kept thinking it was such a gift.  It was so wonderful to have the magic of winter weather since we really only get it once or twice a year.  I was able to sled with the kids for hours and have some great bonding time.  Plus, we don't have any neighbors who go to Lily and Skyler's school.  Here we have the option to choose a year round or traditional calendar school.  We are the only ones around who have chosen traditional and so it is a rare treat when all the kids in the neighborhood are out to play at the same time.  This week has been a great time to relax and just have fun.