Wednesday, February 29, 2012

snow day

This winter has been lame.  I mean come on.  I love the 30's and sun too, but for kids, LAME!  And to finally have a 4 and 5 year old that are big enough not to tip over with the push of a pinky because they look like this....




So this year I was really looking forward to enjoying and embracing our snowy, freezing cold conditions, and well, where have they been?  The warmest winter on record is awesome for adults, we love it!  But, it gave me a new perspective about moving to places with not a lot of snow, something Jeremy and I talk about, because really without snow, what is the point of winter at all?  I mean really, you still have to be inside, there aren't many activities to do without snow?!  So, a couple of days ago when all the meteorologists were up in arms about "snowmageden" we chatted about it, in stores, with friends and family, people were "preparing".  It does seem funny, I mean how long have we lived here, through -30 below temps, 30 inches of snow in 24 hours, you name it, we've seen it!  So, a little storm, so what?  But it was awesome, the heart pounding anticipation!  How long till it arrives?  So, when Audrey, who is 4, oops, correction, 4 1/2 asked, "did you hear a storm is coming?" I said, "Well yes I did, and how did you hear?" Ms. Tammy at school and I said, "oooh did she tell you about snow days?"  Which then led into some wide eyed children, who go completely deaf to anything around them unless it involves treats or toys, let's just say I had their attention!  I said, yep, if it snows SOOOO much they cancel school!  "REALLY?" Graham shouted with glee.  So, this was Monday night, no snow showed AT ALL for Tuesday, what appeared to be a media hoax and total misuse of a billion dollars of weather equipment bust, I kissed them goodnight and as I was walking away, Graham shouts, "it's gonna be a snow day tomorrow, right?"  Well, with not a flake in sight, I said, "Buddy, no I don't think so, sorry..." which was followed by, "ughhhh...".  So, when my preggo body required it's 2 hour potty break at 2 am, and I heard the ticking sound of the snow/ice hitting the windows, I thought, well, that sounds promising...again the bladder called at 5 am, and I still heard it, I stood up, grabbed my iPhone and checked the weather and sure enough school closings....
and it brought me back.

To a time that we would sit in front of a tiny little tv in our kitchen waiting for OUR school to be listed, patiently ALL morning.  We would wait.  And right as it was about to hit the M's for Mahtomedi, it would commercial!!!!  And when they returned it'd be on P's...what happened to the M's!!!  And you'd have to sit there all over again!  Those weren't the days of rewind, or skip or now geez, they show the list during the commercials!  But, really who needs tv or radio anymore, you just go online to your schools website and bing bang boom, you have your answer in seconds.  I must say, as nice as it was to see quickly, it was almost a bummer, missing out on the anticipation.  Who knew a stay at home mom would watch and listen as closely as the kids.  Jeremy woke to the glow of my phone around 540 and said, "what are you doing?" I told him how excited I was to find out about school closings, he laughed and said, you and your obsession with weather, it's like you are 90!  (he didn't throw in Wheel of Fortune, that'd just be mean, me and Pat...) anyway, I was just SO excited, hoping, crossing my fingers that when their sleepy little bodies awoke, I could give them the sweetest news, SNOW DAY!  And, after taking a bubble bath, making a haystack for the hubby and I and feeding Nolan, the 2 hour delay start shot up to what dreams are made of status, a real, full fledge SNOW DAY!  So, I waited, painted my nails, cleaned the kitchen, made pancakes for the kids, and they slept until 8:20, I mean I thought it only to be perfect on a snow day that they lay in bed as long as possible and THEY DID!  They slowly walked into the kitchen with their tussled locks and I video taped their arrival....I know I am nuts, but truly I was so excited!  I can just remember the feeling of that moment seeing Mahtomedi school district....trail across the screen.  The funny thing is I loved school, as does Graham, so what was the mad excitement about?  It's the unexpected, the excitement of something different, out of your routine, that surprise and really the only time that happens in school is sick days, which well, are no fun at all!  

I couldn't wait to plan our day of fun!  We ventured onto the stormy roads, and I warned the kids to bundle up and hang on as you never know if we will get stuck in a snow bank...I like to add to the suspense!!!!  You only get to mess with them for so long, ya know?  Let's just say the "storm" was more like a sloppy, wet mess and the only thing treacherous about it was the amount of water that my Uggs soaked up....but soaked up fun we did!  We went to Target, and it was a ghost town, we drank Icees and ate popcorn, played the DS and with all the toys, it's awesome when they are 4 and 5 and think that's fun, isn't it?  Then we went to Michael's to find a string of lights and some pretty felt colors to make star and moon lights for Graham's bed and flower and heart lights for Audrey for new night-lights, well, no lights and when I mean none, I mean here is a list of the following places I called....Lowes, Target, Walmart, Fleet Farm, Michaels in two locations, Joann Fabrics, and then I had an idea, our porch has those lights hanging that have those little wood cages around them, I could just strip them of the wood cages...so I did, and we cut and designed, I say we, but really it was me, for almost the entire time, I got ditched for Mario figurines in the bathroom sink, yeah, I don't know where they get these ideas either!  Audrey came up with the idea of tracing her hand and cutting those out for the strand, it was brilliant, they are so cute and what an adorable memory of her little hand imprinted in each light!  They turned out beautiful and I was going to take a pic of them glowing in the night, but guess what, THEY BURNDT OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I know right?  They lasted all of two hours, and for some reason, didn't last anymore!  UGH!!!  So, this is right when I finished it, and turned it on briefly, for a post on Facebook and that's all I have...

Anyway, the kids went out and ventured in the snow from 4pm-620!!!!!  They couldn't get enough, their daddy joined them around 515 and built some snowmen, had a snowball fight and Graham came in, exhausted and freezing and said, "this is the bestest day in my whole life!"  And that is what you call a successful snow day memory....even if the damn lights did burn out!  

1 comment:

  1. I was right there with you checking my phone at 5am to see if school was closed. LOVE snow days- or slush days, whatever you want to call it.

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