Finally, winter weather

We have been reflecting alot on the weirdness of winter this year, or that lack thereof.  Many of our early spring bulbs have bloomed and gone, and many others are up now.  I wonder how we will reflect on this odd winter years from now.

One thing for sure, mild weather has allowed us more time outside, not even that different from all other seasons. And it has been a rather convenient winter in its mildness, though eery it is.  Keeping the house warm (woodstove) has not been as large a job as it typically is.  We dont have to waddle around outside in frigid temps wrapped in restrictive clothing, nor haul our own weight in extra clothing to work/school everyday.  We have overall had a very small amount of sickness.  This is all fantastic, as I (Dad) have never - since living in Boone for 8 years - been very fond of intense and/or long winters, for these and many other reasons.  I often play-gripe about how I should make a list of all negatives about winter that I can think of since there is such an overwhelming number of them.  But this winter, I have lightened up on it a bit, for two reasons: being Dad of two little boys and snow, wondrous snow.  The boys have been asking for it: when is it going to happen, why has it not, what if it doesnt this year?  So, I have found myself wanting it, nature's perfectly contradicting gift of utter inconvenience, wrapped in simple beauty and ultimate silence.

And finally it happend.  Last night about 5 or 6 inches fell, was there for a morning of play, and now it is predominantly gone.  To boot, Lesley and I were able to keep the boys out of school and make the most of it.  Once Alder's standard first-thing-in-the-morning grumpiness wore off, this pretty much sums him up:

And Heath followed suit. Though he hadnt quite the same memory as Alder to know how seriously awesome this snow was, he could clearly see that this would be major.    So by eight we were out the door, two multi-color walking pillows with boys in the center and two parents.  First stop, "bagel store", a small neighborhood coffee shop right next to second stop, a monster hill where tons of families go to sled.

Dad getting set.

"Heath you have to hold the sides", said Dad, over and over and over...

Heath was quite brave, following the older brother as usual, and even going back for more after multiple tearful faceplants.

Most of the fun for the parents watching from the top was watching the near misses and collisions on the way down.

Alder could have stayed all day.  I recalled the days when he wanted to play in the snow so badly, but his little toddler fingers got so cold, so fast, that he was miserable.  

Then, Lesley left us to head to work, and the boys and I headed home and threw up a snowman.  The boys would check on it throughout the day.  They saw the snow melting everywhere else (and fast!) and didnt know what to expect each time they checked.  I love seeing how they learn in ways like this, deducing on their own that the massive, dense snow in the snow man is virtually not melting at all relative to that on the ground and in the trees.  It will be fun to watch them watch it persist... and then finally vanish.

They were both dying to give him the carrot nose, so he got two of them.  The pea gravel mouth was practically melting as fast as we put it in.  But, it was our snowman by God.

Heath asked if we could bring him inside several times, hoping to find inconsistency in my answers and reasons why we couldn't, so that he could work that over.  Heath wanted him in front of their bedroom window, I think to make it like one of his favorite books, "The Snowman".

Also of late, Alder really got into making Valentine's for all his school friends.  About twenty-four or so of them.   (Anna, we were amazed at the similarity between his and Brayden's!).  We helped with drawing the hearts, but otherwise, he was on his own.  I got one for my office too!

Heath got in on it too.

And these are just fun pics.  Dinner last night was a rare treat of venison stew.  We made veggie broth by boiling down vegetable cuttings we save in a bag in the freezer, and turned much of that into base for a venison stew, using a tenderloin my Uncle gave us.  Alder loved it, Heath was a good sport.  And Lesley asked the boys to make faces to show different emotions.  I posted something like this for Heath awhile back, but its worth doing again.

Until next time... onward, growing and going...