The Snowy Day

Snowfall. Finally. And a beautiful, lacy-flaked one at that.

Waking up sometime in the middle of the night on Monday, I could tell by the strange light cast into our bedroom that snow was falling at last on our little house. It's the same light I remember waking up to in my own bedroom as a little girl...whitish and bright, the moon's light causing the snow to virtually glow. As a child, I always loved watching the snow come down against the dark night sky. As an adult, that feeling is just as exciting. I watched the snow falling for a few minutes before sneaking into the Little Nguyens' room to pull the blinds up. I wanted the snow to be the first thing they saw when they woke up! And it was. The shrieks we heard coming from their room were a sure sign of that! It always amazes me how fast children can actually spring out of bed when there aren't pancakes or french toast involved.

But snow will do it every time. They were dressed in a hurry, ready to hit the snow at, umm...7:00 a.m.! Probably the only thing better than watching snow fall quietly from the warmth of your bed in the middle of the night is watching the excitement brewing in one's own children. It's like a snowball rolling downhill; it just keeps gathering momentum!

The snowflakes were so big and fluffy, drifting down so softly. There were already 3-4 inches of accumulation in our yard by the time we woke up, and more would soon follow. We were all out the door early for the requisite snowball fight (notice the eye shields the Second Little Nguyen donned for the event?), but the snowballs weren't holding together very well at that point. In comical human terms, I would equate it to a "blonde snow" -- lovely and so easy on the eyes, but not much substance. (Yes, I know. I hear the snickers. Hush up, now.)

The Little Nguyens got a kick out of playing on their snow-covered playset and driving their dump trucks around in the snow. Then, we moved on to sledding with the two-man sled we bought last January when the weatherpeople mistakenly forecast snow. THAT was great fun to watch, and we have the perfect slope for just such activities right in our front yard! It was still really, really cold out, and the snow was very dry, so it wasn't as joyously slippery as we would have liked. The Little Nguyens had fun pulling each other around on the sled, though, and trying to pull Daddy! I think they quickly found it was much faster, and a lot more fun, to have him pull them!


The rest of the day was spent like this, and I don't think a snowy day at home shouldn't be spent any other way:

1. Spend ten minutes bundling up two Little Nguyens to go outside.
2. Play for as long as possible without becoming human icicles.

3. Break out the food, along with the compulsory hot cocoa and marshmallows (With two growing boys, Mom's Kitchen is open 24 hours most days!).

4. Wait for coats, hats, mittens, snow pants, and scarves to dry in the dryer.

5. Repeat steps 1-4.

Later on, the First Little Nguyen's friend and his brother came over to play. The rest of the afternoon was spent having the mother of all snowball fights (a little melted snow helps a lot in making them stick together!), eating icicles from the Little Nguyens' playset (much to my horror and dismay-- "Stop that this instant or say goodbye to the snow!"), and having the good snowy day kind of fun that all children should have.

This snowy day (minus the icicle-eating) sort of reminds me of so many books I loved as a child....but I'll leave that commentary for another snowy day. Maybe tomorrow.