Valentine's Day Blizzard '07

Today was the second day off of school for our kids this week. The big blizzard that coated most of Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, New York, Pennsylvania and pretty much everything Northeast of there hit us with a wallop!

I am so glad neither of the boys are sick. The last time we got any measurable snow this season, Matthew and Steven had a fever and cough and couldn't go out to play. Today it was time to get out and play. I'm only sad that it wasn't better packing snow to build a fort/igloo or make some good snowballs.

I was a little leary about sending Steven out since the snow was up to my knees at many points in our yard. Turns out my instincts were right. I got them bundled up adn sent them out with their saucer sleds. I was waiting with my camera by the patio door to snap a shot of them walking past and they didn't come and didn't come. I grabbed my coat and boots and that's when I saw their heads under the mudroom window. Slowly, Matthew was crawling in front of Steven clearing snow with his hands to make a path for him so he could walk. The snow was clear up to Steven's hips where it hadn't been blown away.

I ran out and cleared a path with our scoop shovel so they had a faster escape route when they got too cold. The wind chill was right around zero (farenheit) most of the day.

I got a couple of pictures and we got to play on the sleds for a few minutes before a friend of the family came down the street on his snowmobile. He was coming to pack down a path in the yard to get back to the dogs. (You know, so it won't take me an hour like it did this morning. That was fun!) He cut a swath there adn back and swung around and reached out for Matthew. Matthew flew like a shot to jump on. Steven wasn't going to ride, but once I explained who the masked/helmeted driver was, he was ready to go. I'm so glad I had my camera handy!!!

After we did a little playing around, we figured out how to get a good sled path made (remember, not good packing snow). Matthew and I would both just sink when we tried to go down. Incidentally, we don't have a very big hill in our yard. I put Steven on the saucer and pushed him down pretty hard. He made a small dent of a path. I sent him down about 5 more times each time making a deeper well in the snow. Then, I made Matthew go in between Steven's runs and finally, we added the big weight- Mommy! By the time we finished, we had a great path going adn it even had a bit of a curve in it making it a hair longer and much more fun.

It wasn't long before Steven got too cold and we had to head in. Just in time for DH's Dad to show up with his life, make that back-saving tractor with the snow plow attached. I tried to be helpful, but I sorta just stood there and watched him work his magic. I swept the extra snow and breathed a sigh of relief that I didn't have to shovel or sweep the whole thing.

Since it is Valentine's Day, I made heart-shaped pizzas for supper. I made the boys each a smaller one and DH and I each ahd slightly larger ones. We don't usually do anything extra special for Valentine's Day. It is a nice idea and I sent cards out, but its a Hallmark holiday if you ask me. We tell each other several times a day that we love each other.

Hope you all had a wonderful day! Thanks for stopping by!