Juggling my roles as wife, homemaker, and mother of four
From the category archives:
Thought you might enjoy a little simple math to recap the week here at the circus.
Add together the following totals….
= Memories to last a lifetime!!
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If your from the midatlantic region (as most of my readers are, b/c I think most of my readers stalk me from facebook) then you have probably seen and read and heard all you want about snow this past week.
Seriously, I have scrolled through and looked at gazillions of pictures of face book friends back decks overflowing with snow and seen kids waste high in it, which is kind of funny since I can look out my own windows and see the very same images.
And if you aren’t from around here, then you may not have a clue what’s going on. Because I’ll be honest… I don’t know what the weather in FL or Idaho or CA is doing right now.
As I mentioned before, we’ve had a crazy winter. 2 MAJOR snowstorms in one winter… a true anomaly here with another blizzard warning issued for tomorrow.
For real? Another 6-20 (depending on which site you go to) on top of the almost 2 feet I have sitting out in my yard!!!! 
And I thought rather than share with you more pictures of my kids trudging through mounds and mounds of snow (as I am sure I will have for you tomorrow) I thought I’d come clean and share my real thoughts on this upcoming snowstorm.
eh
Care to stroll with me down memory lane and track my attitude regarding this historic winter wonderland we’re experiencing?
When the first storm came in December… I was all, “this is so magical, right before Christmas” play the Christmas music, bake cookies, make cinnamon rolls, lament we don’t have a fireplace… I am LOVING LIFE!!! This is great! I love being snowed in with my family. This is romantic and old fashioned and right out of a book. Remember my posts and my pictures just oozing with holiday joy and exuberance?
2 months later, forecasters are saying we’re going to get hit with another storm. This time on the day we had planned to have my daughter’s 4th birthday party. Insert slight stress. Do we postpone the party? Is it really going to hit? What do I do? Why this weekend? Why not last weekend or next weekend? Ugh… what do I do? Check accuweather….. 2 hrs later… check accuweather again… finally decide to post pone her party 1 week. Second guess if we made the right call. Check accuweather again… YUP, snow is coming… def made the right call. My attitude then became, “Well, since we already cancelled and there is no turning back, this better be a good storm… I am ready to embrace it!” Stock up on food, bake cookies… this is going to be fun!!! Wait…. what if we lose power? That is not fun… so I fill tubs with water for flushing toilets, make sure we have gallons of drinking water and a pot of water on the stove for cooking, make sure the dishes are all caught up and we have paper plates…. Scott tries to get our generator working. Still about 80% excited with 20% fearful that we’ll lose power… losing power in my mind takes all the fun and joy out of a blizzard.
We don’t lose power. Hooray!! Go outside, take lots of pics…. talk to neighbors, drink lots of hot chocolate…. life is good.
Then Monday comes and Scott goes back to work and we go back to school. (advantage/disadvantage of homeschooling…. depending on how you look at it) There is still snow outside but honestly, it is now much less romantic. With Scott at work, I have no desire to bundle up three kids and take them outside. So, in my D- momness… we stay inside. Because they didn’t ask, so I figured, eh why push them? I know, I know… I am a bad mom. But they were happy inside. For some reason beyond my comprehension they have been wearing their bathing suits every day this week and pretending to swim in the living room. Yesterday they were burying each other under pillows and rescuing one another and then doctoring each other up. They played nicely for HOURS…. why would I interrupt that so we could get cold and wet, if I didn’t have to? Really, why? Won’t the snow still be there tomorrow?
Yup…. snow still here….. and guess what? Now they are calling for anywhere between 6-12 and 10-20 more inches of snow between tonight and tomorrow.
And now…now, I am much less excited.
Because Scott still doesn’t think his work will be closed. (times like these I wish he was a gov’t employee) and now I am afraid again of losing power…something about high winds and blizzard like conditions…. and it’s not a weekend…. and well, we’ve had fun in the snow. But, really, I enjoy snow the most from my kitchen window while baking chocolate chip cookies and sipping hot cocoa.
There it is, the cold, harsh truth.
I am not a snow bunny. Nor am I a super mom.
And while I have no desire to be a snow bunny, I do aspire to make wonderful memories with my family.
So……. even though I am much less excited about this forecast, and even though I am faking it a little, I am still going to do my best to embrace this next round of winter weather. Aunt Karen and Eli have not gone back to Texas yet, so we invited them over tonight to get snowed in with us. I am going to make home made pizza for dinner tonight and after nap time today we’re going out in the front yard to play for a bit in the snow. I plan to have cinnamon rolls ready for breakfast tomorrow and I think we’re going to bake snowman/snowflake sugar cookies tomorrow (since we just had a batch of chocolate chip cookies this weekend and decorating sugar cookies is one of my kids favorite things to do). Before I go to sleep tonight I will fill the tubs with water and make sure the dishes are clean. I am sure we’ll take more pics tomorrow of the crazy amounts of snow in our yard and Scott will once again shovel out a spot for our cars in the driveway either before he goes to work or after he gets home.
But, I thought that before I post that next batch of winter fun pictures, I should come clean and tell you that while we are enjoying this winter wonderland…. there is still part of me that, well, isn’t as giddy as I once was. And I strive to keep it real here folks.
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Most years when I put together our family scrapbooks, our “Fun in the Snow” spread looks something like this. Notice the grass poking through the snow and the pathetic little snowball snowman my son built?
But, this winter has been crazy! We had a record breaking snowfall in December. Then, last week we got a good 6 inches of snowfall (which in any normal MD winter, would have made us giddy with excitement). And today we were blasted with another record breaking and historic snowfall. 
In a way I feel kind of sorry for our kids, because at this young age they are already seeing the most snow they will probably ever see at one time. It’s all down here from here. No worries, though, we’ve documented it well and are fully enjoying some fun in the snow. I am so glad that this year I snagged some boots on sale on Black Friday. I def got my money’s worth out of em!
(click me and I’ll get bigger)
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Nothing like a good 18+ inches of snow to provide for some family fun and a few photo opps as well. 
The kids had even more fun on day two than they did on day one. I think it was warmer out, which helped the girls significantly. And even after my 3 year old turned on the outside spicket and sprayed herself with water (oh, yes, she did) she still stayed and played till the bitter end. I am now convinced those snow pants are a valuable commodity for snow play. The neighbor kids were out as well and in addition to shoveling out the driveway and cars, they also made sledding ramps and igloos. We attempted a snowman, but the snow really wasn’t packing snow, so it wasn’t quite as glamorous as we had hoped for. Still a good time was had by all.
I know I posted this picture yesterday, but Scott pointed out that it would look better cropped… man, was he right… this one is def one that I will printing off and hanging on the wall.
She did not want to leave this igloo, she just kept sitting in there and smiling from ear to ear. She LOVED it!
What is it about snowstorms that bring about this overwhelming desire to bake? We’d had cookies, cinnamon rolls, home made pizza…I am pretty sure this snowstorm will bring an added 5 lbs to us all and it well take much longer for it to melt off than the snow will!!
This weekend was a delight from start to finish and I am so grateful for the precious memories made and the time enjoyed with my family.
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Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!!!
Growing up and living in the midAtlantic region means that snow is something we are familiar with, but we don’t encounter on a regular basis. It’s not like we’re living in Houston and a dusting of snow occurs once a decade. But, it also isn’t unreasonable that I don’t go out and purchase snow suits for my kids every winter either.
We can typically anticipate seeing snowfall at least once a year. It may be an inch or a dusting, but at least the kids all know what the white stuff is. More often than not we get ice.
Growing up Scott and I can recall watching the news and listening to forecasts hoping and praying for a snow storm, while most of the time the storm would seem to hit all around our surrounding area and leave us with rain.
But, every now and then, when everything lines up perfectly, we’ll get dumped with a good snow storm. Last time it happened was in Feb of 2003. Scott and I were flying to Ca to visit his sick Grandpa while the Baltimore Metropolitan Area was getting covered in a foot of snow. I remember being so bummed that we were missing out on all the excitement.
This time however, we are present for all the excitement.
And exciting it is!
We had planned to take the kids to Hersheypark today to enjoy the Christmas Candyland. But instead, God blessed us with a winter wonderland, right here in our own back yard.
The snow started last night around 10pm and it hasn’t stopped yet! The weather men are saying we could see 15-20 inches of snow here. It is a record breaking snowfall for December in our area. And 6 days before Christmas, it’s like a winter wonderland. I really can’t think of anything more magical. I fell asleep with the blinds open watching the flakes fall peacefully from the sky and woke to sounds of delight from my three children as they looked out their windows.
After a filling breakfast of Daddy Omelet’s, we donned our winter gear and headed out to enjoy the white stuff.
My youngest enjoyed it the least. She found it fun for awhile, but once her hands soaked through the wool gloves she was ready to come inside and bake cookies with mommy.
My middle child doesn’t enjoy being cold and typically bails out first on winter weather activities. Today however, she held in there pretty well.
My son would have gladly turned into a snow man. He was the first to get dressed, dressing in at least 5 shirts and two pants. Despite the fact that he didn’t have any snow pants, he was out playing in the backyard before the girls were even dressed and never complained once about being cold. 
He truly loved playing in the snow and I am confident is going to be enjoying himself quite a bit over the next few days.
I am so thankful for this winter wonderland God gave for us to play in. I am thankful it fell on Saturday and we had no place we had to be. I am thankful for unplanned weekend at home with which to play, bake, and enjoy time together as a family. I am also thankful for a warm place to come inside. We can go outside and play for a little bit and then come inside, put our clothes in the dryer, change into something dry and warm, sip hot chocolate and watch the rest of the storm from our windows. As we sit down at the table to enjoy yummy treats, I can’t help but think of those who have no place to go and get respite from the storm. For those who see today as a test of survival, rather than a day of play.
This weekend my thoughts are all on snow. The fun and joy it brings and the reminder of my great fortune as well.
What are you thinking about this snowy Saturday?
What are you thinking about this week? Why not use your last post of the week to highlight something a bit "deeper" then the average “Momblog” fair? I’d love to read your thoughts. Please feel free to write and link up a “thoughtful” post below. You can write a new post or link up one you wrote earlier in the week. Please include a link back to here in your post.
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My roles as wife, homemaker and mother of 4 feel much like a circus with 3 rings constantly vying for my attention. Life is often chaotic but I'm loving every minute and wouldn't want it any other way. Sit back, relax and enjoy the show. I won't let you miss a thing.
Visits Since April 2008
