What gives? We haven’t had enough snow to play in and it’s nearly February. Right now, it’s currently sleet-ice-raining. In case you didn’t notice, sleet-ice-rain is not snow. It’s crap. Ice is crap, Old Man Winter. Crap. With a capital C.

In November, I made the hair band reference joke, that “nothing lasts forever, even cold November Rain.” But you know what? It has! I understand you’re not in charge of November or even the beginning half of December; that’s the Funky Fall Fairy or whatever. But I thought for sure when we were denied a White Christmas that the snowflakes would soon fly and cover the yard in a spectacular blanket of white.

But no.

We’ve had some snowflakes. Here. And there. But they weren’t even enough to cover the grass (that seems to be growing, what with the 60 degree days in January and all). To top it off, quite literally, you topped off our last snow with a glaze of ice so thick that we couldn’t even park in our own driveway. Not cool. Not cool at all.

All of this would be mostly tolerable, but I kind of made one of those parental slip ups that looms over my head darker than the gray, snowless January clouds. It happened just the other day. LittleBrother was lamenting the fact that we had no snow to play in… yet again. He was getting kind of four-year-old angsty, and I let the words fly before I considered their weight.

“It will snow enough for us to play in this winter, LittleBrother. I promise.”

As soon as I said the words “I promise,” I knew I had gone wrong. I can’t promise anything about weather. In fact, I wouldn’t put it past you, Old Man Winter, to just give us a dusting of snow between now and spring to prove your point. Plus, both the boys and I got new snow boots for Christmas. It’s almost destined not to snow, isn’t it?

And so, I promised my youngest son that it would snow. I promised. And I’ve tried to teach my sons that we keep promises in our family, that our words hold a lot of weight and that we should keep true to our word. But, in my defense, I had only had a half a cup of coffee and was on question number 412 before 9:00 in the morning. Surely you can cut me a little slack?

I don’t need a lot of snow, but I won’t complain if there’s a boatload either. I just want to hear my sons giggle and laugh in the snow. I want to build an angry snowman with them again. I want to look at the joy on their faces, to see the magic in their eyes.

I just want to keep my promise.

So, could you pretty please see what you can do? I’ve defended you for years, and I maintain that winter is my favorite season. Surely you could give back a little. Pretty please, with snowflakes on top?

If not for me…

…for him.

Sincerely With heartfelt love of winter,
FireMom

A Plea to Old Man Winter is a post from Stop, Drop and Blog. Want more of Stop, Drop and Blog? Like our page on Facebook! If you have questions, contact me or hit me up via twitter.

Today the not-so-Snowpocalypse hit the area. For awhile there, it was snowing hard. The boys were giddy. So was I. I knew as soon as I finished my work hours, we were going to get our snow gear on, get our butts outside and get to the important work of snowball fights, sledding and general snow fun.

Except, I forgot that I am currently without a pair of snowpants.

Last year, I broke the zipper on the ski pants I had for years. I attempted an outdoor snow-venture without them but ended up with snow in areas one doesn’t really want to have snow. For our first snow this year, I attempted to put on a pair of really old (I’m talking high school, people) wind-pant-type-of-material pants. As you might imagine, they didn’t fit all that well.

And so, I have no snowpants.

I just got a new ski jacket. It’s black and white and, wait for it, green. I know you’re surprised. I just want a pair of simple black pants, though I do like the version of bibs that Lands’ End carries as well. The problem? I don’t know where to find them other than Lands’ End. And you’d think Lands End would have their snowpants on some kind of reasonable sale considering Target has swim suits in the store. But no. No sale. And spending $80-$100 on pants that I can only wear 2-5 times per year in places and situations that lend to tearing, ripping and general damage seems… well… wasteful.

Who else carries adult snowpants? For reasonable prices?

Because I’d really like to join these guys…

…before they don’t want to play with me anymore.

(But don’t worry, FireDad threw enough snowballs for me. And at me.)

I Need Some Snowpants is a post from Stop, Drop and Blog. Want more of Stop, Drop and Blog? Like our page on Facebook! If you have questions, contact me or hit me up via twitter.

Wordless Wednesday: I Love Winter on The Farm is a post from Stop, Drop and Blog. Want more of Stop, Drop and Blog? Like our page on Facebook! If you have questions, contact me or hit me up via twitter.

I know that you’re kind of unpredictable at best. Maybe you’ve taken the whole repeated playing of “White Christmas” since, what, Halloween to heart. Maybe you thought to yourself, “You know, it’s been awhile. Maybe I’ll give it a go this year.” Maybe you just feel like throwing wrenches in the works of peoples’ plans.

But listen to me, Weather. White Christmases are overrated.

I know. I know. Everyone wants one except those people who moved to warmer climates specifically to avoid them. And perhaps if I didn’t want a White Christmas, I should move my family as well. Except that we’d be far away from our families, which is the high point of our holiday celebration — however aggravating those said family members might be. We love to spend our holidays with our families.

And if you dump a bunch of snow on us, we won’t be able to drive to Pennsylvania to spend Christmas with my family. We haven’t spent Christmas Day in Pennsylvania since 2006. And if you ruin that? Well, Weather, I’m going to have some choice words for you. In fact, while cussing at you, I might cry. And you don’t want to make this woman cry — ON CHRISTMAS — do you?

I didn’t think so.

Don’t get me wrong. I like snow. In fact, I’m one of those people who loves snow. And, really, a White Christmas is beautiful. If you just gave us enough to cover the grass but magically kept the roadways clear and free of ice and snow, well, I’d be thrilled!

You see, Weather, this is our first Christmas without Grandpa. And as hard as it is going to be, I need to be home this year. I need to be there so my Grandma can focus on my dyed red hair instead of her sadness. I need to give my dad a hug. And help my mom in the kitchen. And let the noise and speed and glee of our noisy, speedy, gleeful children distract everyone else from the empty spot at the table.

I’m sure we’ll make it work if we have to stay home. We’re buying a backup ham. There are phones. And webcams.

But, please Weather, just a dusting this Christmas, okay? The Farm already looks lovely. It’s really all I want this year.

Sincerely,
FireMom

White Christmases Are Overrated is a post from Stop, Drop and Blog. Want more of Stop, Drop and Blog? Like our page on Facebook! If you have questions, contact me or hit me up via twitter.

Only to find the rain jackets were all gone.

Thankfully his rain jacket from last year still (mostly) fits. I figure he’ll outgrow it by fall but that’s okay. They did, however, have a firefighter umbrella left. LittleBrother has been looking longingly at BigBrother’s Lightning McQueen umbrella for months now. Not that said umbrella got much use during The Snow That Never Ended but it was present in the truck and both boys would talk about walking in the rain and puddle jumping. So, we bought the firefighter umbrella.

And there it sat.

For weeks.

I’m not complaining at the lack of rain (even though I have awesome new boots). But when you’re two (or four) and all you want to do is use your new umbrella, I’m sure day after day after day of gorgeous, sunshiney days is as big a let down as you can imagine. Every day he asked me if he could use his umbrella. Every day I had to explain that we use our umbrellas in the rain. Every single day he gave me that sad little pouty face that breaks my heart. I may or may not have prayed for a little bit of rain.

And rain it did.

I think he was happy.

And that little grin almost makes the rain tolerable. Almost.

Firefighters in the Rain is a post from Stop, Drop and Blog. Want more of Stop, Drop and Blog? Like our page on Facebook! If you have questions, contact me or hit me up via twitter.

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For more Wordless Wednesday, visit 5 Minutes for Mom.

Wordless Wednesday: At Least It’s Pretty, Right? is a post from Stop, Drop and Blog. Want more of Stop, Drop and Blog? Like our page on Facebook! If you have questions, contact me or hit me up via twitter.

BigBrother helped a bit.

LittleBrother mostly fell down in the snow, cried, got picked up, took two steps and fell down again.

And again.

This was the first time we’ve been able to use the Snowman Kit that we got from one of my Grandpa’s friends during the week of his funeral. In the plastic bag came two black circles for the eyes, an orange carrot-type nose, a yellow pipe for the mouth, three brown circles for the buttons and a black scarf to tie around his neck. All pieces but the scarf were handmade. It’s totally awesome. So, once the pieces were in place, I thought FireDad was done and I took a picture of him with his creation.

We went about slipping and sliding and tripping our way through the snow. Then FireDad told me to go look at our snowman. I did. I laughed out loud. Really, I lol-ed in the snow. My awesome husband made me an ANGRY SNOWMAN.

We’ve been talking lots about Calvin & Hobbes for the past few weeks. Even before Grandpa’s sudden death (for which this particular strip is totally appropriate), we had been talking about rebuilding our Calvin & Hobbes library so that the boys have access to what we both feel is the epitome of comic strip awesomeness. And so with the angry snowman in mind, my husband made my day. Or weekend. But we didn’t bring him to life. Promise.

We did some sledding.

We had a snowball fight. Or two. Or three.

And, really, despite the fact that we haven’t left the house since Friday and they cancelled not only soccer but church, we really had a wonderful weekend. I mean, with smiles like this, how could it be anything but good?

I’d be singing a different tune if we had been without power (like my parents and grandmas and some other bloggers I know). I hope everyone was able to be safe and warm this weekend. Let’s hunker down for Round 3, set to begin on Tuesday. (By the way? Despite the cheer of this post, I’m over winter.)

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How an Angry Snowman Made me Happy is a post from Stop, Drop and Blog. Want more of Stop, Drop and Blog? Like our page on Facebook! If you have questions, contact me or hit me up via twitter.

Ah, Snow Days.

But today I almost changed my tune to, “Bah!, Snow Days!”

BigBrother was supposed to return to school today after his two weeks of Christmas vacation. As much as I love the child, I needed him to go back to school today. Having him home for two weeks with the added interruption of holidays has left me with a huge pile of work to do. I had plans to not only do that work but do it well, hit the gym and maybe even have a special one-on-one moment with LittleBrother.

Then they canceled schools in our area.

My plans for the day went out the window and got lost in the swirling snow. Thankfully FireDad is home today (another bonus of fire life) and he was able to wrangle lunch and put the kids down for a nap. I’m trying to work and be generally productive but children keep asking me what button to press on their Leapster or ask, ever so cutely, to put a puzzle together and, dang it, that’s hard to say no to when they bat those super long eyelashes that they have both been blessed with thanks to their father’s genes. And so, it’s 12:44pm and I’m behind on my day’s goals.

And I’m kind of okay with that… mostly.

You see, once we found out school was canceled and we fed BigBrother his breakfast? Well, FireDad and I snuggled under the covers for a good hour until LittleBrother woke up. Then we fed him breakfast and snuggled a bit more, this time with two kids crawling all over us. Why didn’t I just jump straight into the workload I have?

It’s that Magic of a Snow Day.

It really is magical. Sure, I’m waiting desperately for return emails now and maybe even kicking myself a little bit but I’m figuring it is okay in the end. I’ll forever have that memory of the glorious light reflecting off the snow and shining into our (clean!) bedroom as two little boys climbed all over us while we pretended to be asleep. I love their laughter. And if the temperatures don’t drop too badly by the time (glorious) nap time is over, I hope we make a few more memories out in the snow. The gym can wait. That’s what Wii Fit is for. The work will get done. That’s what the hours after bedtime are for.

It’s a Snow Day.

These days of their childhood will pass by too quickly. My parents, who both worked outside the home, tried to make Snow Days a little magical for us. I hope to do the same for our kids. I hope to remember to keep things in perspective and not allow the worry of work and life to interfere with the Magic of a Snow Day. I hope that someday, maybe on their child’s first Snow Day, they can look back and say, “Remember when Mom and Dad did that one thing on that one Snow Day? Let’s do that with the kids today.”

Sled riding. Hot chocolate. Bird stalking. Magic, indeed.

Happy Magical Snow Day!
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The Magic of a Snow Day is a post from Stop, Drop and Blog. Want more of Stop, Drop and Blog? Like our page on Facebook! If you have questions, contact me or hit me up via twitter.

We did get outside two days this week. You know, when it was seventy-five instead of twenty-five. I’m a better parent when we are able to get outside with regularity. The fresh air helps recharge my patience. The fresh air helps them use their energy appropriately. The sunshine not only gives us some necessary Vitamin D but makes us smile. There’s no smiling right now. Gray clouds are reminding us that we’re stuck inside today. Grumpypants on instead of Happyshorts.

The boys, of course, don’t understand. Two days ago, they were outside for two hours at a time. So why not today? LittleBrother stood at the back door and cried, “Siiiiiiiiiiiiiide,” for quite some time. BigBrother has asked no less than fifteen times if we can go outside after lunch. Apparently the answer of “no” is not acceptable. “It’s not raining,” he says. “It can’t be that cold, Mommy.” Sadly, it can be.

Soon, of course, I’ll be ranting about the over-bearing heat of mid-summer. (I actually hate heat. Also, hate and heat have the same letters. This is no coincidence.) I prefer spring and fall. I guess I can’t have it all. But, soon enough, we’ll be able to spend more time outside. Perhaps when the wind is blowing the general stink off of us, BigBrother will be able to avoid some germs. He’s gotten every bug from preschool this winter and if he gets one more ear infection, well, I don’t want to talk about it.

How’s Spring coming along your way? Please share pictures of sunshine with us today. We’re in need a of a pick-me-up.

Spring? Where? is a post from Stop, Drop and Blog. Want more of Stop, Drop and Blog? Like our page on Facebook! If you have questions, contact me or hit me up via twitter.

I put this quote in my planner just yesterday:

“It’s spring fever… you don’t quite know what it is you DO want, but it just fairly makes your heart ache, you want it so.” – Mark Twain

I just want to be outside. Out from behind these walls. And other walls. I want fresh air. And leaves on trees. And something other than the clothes we’ve been looking at for months on end. I know, I know. I’m the winter lover among us all. I rave about the snow. And I do love it and I do love winter.

But I like who I am as a mother better when we can all go outside and take a breather.

I run out of ideas when stuck inside for long periods of time. And when I run out of ideas, I run out of patience. Add in some of my health issues as of late and I haven’t been the most patient, calm or quiet of mothers in the past month or so. And I’ve put in the effort. I’ve purchased new crafting things. I’ve bought new books. I’ve ventured to let BigBrother spend some time “gaming” with me on the Wii. We’re throwing things like the library into our regular schedule.

But I need to talk daily walks. I need to show BigBrother plants and flowers and leaves growing. I need to hear LittleBrother’s vocabulary explode as he discovers new things. (In fact, with the back door open today, he said, “Side,” the same way his older brother used to say outside back in the day. FireDad and I melted.) I need to take a book outside and read. Drink some iced tea. Feel the sun on my cheeks. Stop wearing bulky coats that make it difficult to get everyone in and out of the house.

I need Spring to arrive.

But by seasons, we still have just over a month before the word actually applies. And we all know that it can snow on the last day of April. But I’m still holding out hope. Surely there must be an end in sight? Soon the birds will sing and I’ll complain about the heat, right?

Right?

Spring Fever Has Set In is a post from Stop, Drop and Blog. Want more of Stop, Drop and Blog? Like our page on Facebook! If you have questions, contact me or hit me up via twitter.