The Snowstorm of 2015 {Inside Fun}

I'm determined that both girls have an alter ego.  She's this brave little adventurer that wants to go play in the waist-deep snow for hours on end, building igloos and ice castles and snowmen named Olaf.  And then after no more than 12 minutes outside, that child disappears, and in comes a whiny, freezing cold little girl demanding hot chocolate.  But, after about two hours inside in the warmth, that alter ego pops back out again, begging for mommy to spend 30 minutes dressing them up, just to have them not make it off the porch.  

at least someone's excited about more snow

 

So, when we woke up to more snow on Saturday, I knew what was coming.  Sue enough,  Harper asked if we could build a snowman, so I had to get creative.  In other words, I had to do a Pinterest search.  We found a fun recipe for erupting play snow, which got mommy off the gather-every-piece-of-clothing-we-own-just-to-have-it-off-and-wet-in-five-minutes hook.

The girls loved helping me measure out the baking soda, salt, dishwashing liquid, and water.  I had a few Olaf (from Frozen.  I'm so jealous if you needed that reference point, as we have seen the movie 1,457 times.) and snowflake sugar cupcake toppers the we used to help them decorate the snowmen they built. 

Hi, I'm Olaf! and I like warm hugs.

When they were finished building their snowmen, we got the squirt bottle and filled in with vinegar.  Now time to make it foam!

Yep, this activity was a little bit messy, but the great thing is that it's a mess with baking soda, dishwashing liquid, and vinegar-- things I clean up my kitchen with all the time.  So, it didn't take long to wipe up the mess.  And that of course, gave us plenty of time to enjoy a picnic in our curtain fort.  

The Snowstorm of 2015 {Outside Fun}

I am calling this the Snowstorm of 2015 because I am hoping this designation will mean that there won't be anymore of this snowed-in-with-no-school-for-a-week weather for the rest of 2015. Maybe I should call it the Snowstorm of the decade just to be sure.

It was almost this exact time last year that Roanoke was slammed with 18 inches of snow...how kind of nature to repeat it this year.  I'm not usually one to watch much about the weather (I know.  That's bad when I have kids.), but I couldn't miss that forecasts were calling for another snowstorm.  We have had such a mild winter to this point, so as much as I hated to think of it, we've been due.  I left early on Monday morning to eek out some work in Martinsville before heading back to Roanoke at lunch to be closer to home when the snow started falling.  Sam left for work by 6 (as usual), and was supposed to be going to West Virginia for the week for meetings.  I have never been so glad to hear about rescheduled meetings!  All I could imagine was us being stuck in over a foot of snow, with no power or heat, me trying to shovel our long, steep driveway in the dark.  Scared to death.  Ugh.  Makes me glad all over again just typing that.

Harper on Monday afternoon-- first inch of snow!

All Monday evening it snowed.  And snowed.  And snowed.  Big, pretty, wet, sticky snow.  No school tomorrow kind of snow.  I hadn't taken a 'snow day' for work since we moved to Virginia almost five years ago.  But, this called for it.  Offices were closed, roads were nasty, and I had a foot of snow to help shovel off my driveway in hopes of getting out tomorrow.  

The snow shoveling ended up being a family affair.  These two little cuties insisted on going out to help with the excavation.  Well, at least for the first 7 minutes.  

 

Our house buried in snow

It wasn't long before these two were snuggled up on the couch with hot chocolate, waiting for some warm breakfast.  

Homemade IHOP Rooty Tooty breakfast

We learned the hard way last year that we do not have a very good hill for sledding.  I know right now as Sam is reading this, he is saying "Thank Goodness she did not have a blog last year!"  Good news, honey, I'll do a recap for posterity's sake.  ;)  Harper managed to talk Sam into letting her go by herself down "the big hill," which ended with her running into a big bush and getting leveled by one of the low branches.  She loved showing off the shiner she had for the months to follow.  Sheesh.  So, Sam suggested we go over to Sue & Dave's so that we could take the girls sledding.  Down a good hill.  With a safe landing.  

Our Road

Sam and I spent the rest of the morning packing down the snow to carve a sledding path for the girls to ride down.  Y'know, putting that big mom-of-two body to good use.  ;)  Harper and Sydney had fun making snow angels while they patiently waited.  Willa loved the snow, unless you actually asked her to touch it.  Then, all bets were off.  

It didn't take long for my two girls to grow tired of the cold, and want to go inside for some Mimi snuggles.  They hadn't seen her in a few weeks, so that sounded like a lot more fun to them than trudging through the snow.  But, Syd was so excited for some new playmates.  She stayed outside with us the whole time, and even kept playing with Samantha and her friend when Sam and I left to go get a few pizzas for a late lunch.  Sam and I enjoyed making memories with all the girls, and getting to be kids for a bit ourselves.

Sunny Sunday in February

Oh, southwest Virginia. You truly are "Four Seasons" country and in any given month of the year, we get to see the weather of at least three of them. I have two little girls who were thrilled that February brought some Spring with it, as they have so enjoyed this 60 degree Sunday afternoon. 

 

 

We went to church and then on to Brambleton Deli, which we chose primarily because A) it is close to our church and B) has outdoor seating to take advantage of this unseasonable weather. The girls usually crash for naps after our Sunday lunch, but not today. It was way to nice outside to have my little nature lovers indoors for a nap, so we played outside until I couldn't stand the sleepy crying over whose turn it was on the swing. Especially since we have three swings for two kiddos. :/

The girls took a great nap-- you know, the "I actually got to play outside" kind of nap.  It always amazes me how much the weather and being outside affects their attitudes, especially Harper's.  That baby girl was made to be outside, in the woods.  He clearly knew more about the little 9 month old we held in our arms when we bought this house in Clearbrook four years ago.  So many of the things that I was nervous about with 'being in the country' have been what she loves most.  He knew she'd need tall trees, big frogs, and a long rope swing.  And I'm glad she got to enjoy them today.