Wonder-land

Well, we watched it snow, and snow, and snow, until I couldn't stay awake any longer. I'm afraid our excitement over the snow gave way to disappointment over dangerous driving conditions that made it impossible for WH to get home last night. Winter wonderland turned to wonder (?) land. Will dad ever be home??? He stopped around 7pm, after seeing car after car either wrecked or in the ditch. I am grateful he got a room; from the news reports others were not so fortunate and spent a chilly night in their cars. He is on the road now, going 40 mph and we're praying the sections of interstate reported closed will clear before he gets there. We're all pretty anxious about being together again.

This is the fire hydrant in our front yard:

I'm guessing we have over a foot of snow to play in, so we are about to put the baby to bed (lest we lose him) and put on the layers- we'll see how long the kids last. I have snow shoes, but not boots, so I'm guessing my feet will be cold in about 6 minutes. There is something about it all that makes even cold feet worth the fun.

In cheerier news, I've finished our family stockings, and they are filled with all kinds of treats I've collected over the last 6 months. I'm not sure who is more excited about Christmas! When my husband does get home, we will have our little family Christmas and open it all so the kids have time to play with their new things before we leave for Florida. More snow pictures to come!

It's coming!

The snow is already falling fairly hard, with 8-12 inches expected over the next few days! I can hardly contain myself as I watch the magical snowflakes drift- now rush- to the ground. Snow is still charming to this Florida girl. My husband has been out of town since last Sunday evening, and we are expecting him home before bedtime. It looks like we will be homebound for at least 24 hours. Is it wrong to be this excited about having to stay home?

My extended family has decided to do a gift exchange this year with the requirements (unless you are a certain family member who has a low regard for guidelines...) that the gift has to be used or handmade (not necessarily by the giver). Finances are tight all around, so this seemed like a creative way to address the gift-giving issue in a family of 19 people. It's a great idea if you have time but no money, but it does take a fair amount of time to make or hunt for a gift. I think it's testing our creativity. With WH out of town all week I've had long artsy nights putting together all sorts of projects, few of which I can post because they will end up under the tree. But after Christmas it will be a virtual parade of handmade gifts. On Wednesday my sister-in-law and a friend and I got together and made these little numbers. Pictures to follow. (ETA: This is a link to a great site where you can purchase these adorable headbands. We did our best to imitate them- maybe one day I'll get some pictures up), but if you want the real deal check out her Etsy shop.)

WH went to a thrift shop up in DC (in order to find gifts for his person) and found two sleds for $7. The kids have big plans to build a snowman family and spend the weekend sledding. And I think we will be more than ready for Florida when we leave next week!

Small town charms

On Saturday my husband, being the fun-loving guy that is he, decided we should start a tradition of going to the local Christmas parade. We were fortunate; our town holds it during the daytime, instead of the insane small towns around us that have them at night. At least it was only 34 degrees while our neighbors were parading.

So rather than describe it in detail to you, I think I'll just leave you with some pictures so you can get a feel for the effort that went into this event (and I must say that I am grateful that so many people got up on a Saturday morning in an effort to provide some Christmas cheer for the children. Really, I am).

Started out with the honor guard and police car...followed by every volunteer fire truck that would participate (always a treat for my kids):

Tractors are picturesque, especially with Irv's Car Wash in the background:

I'm thinking he built it himself...

A lot of time and care was put into this number:

and this one

This guy was on his cell phone the whole time, and I saw several others multi-tasking in the same way

And my personal favorite:

Points for creativity with the whole speakers strapped to the roof thing, playing "It's 5 o'clock somewhere" which happens to be one of my favorite Christmas carols.

I grew up in a big city, but my children have no such expectations of fancy parades, and thought that even though most people were carrying empty bags around (we were at the end of the parade so they were out of candy), the fact that they still took home two mini candy canes and two small pieces of candy made it a pretty cool way to spend a Saturday morning in near freezing temperatures. Although Coop did ask us several times, "Was that a REAL parade?" So I think he may be on to them.

Baby T found most of his entertainment from this stick, until he chewed it to pieces and I had to dig it out of his mouth. Then he had to settle for the parade. I forgot his gloves so he's wearing mine...

Don't you wish YOU lived in a small town?