the first snow

this time of year, my flip-flop sporting floridian children are sure to ask the same question (over and over) that they asked last winter: "why doesn't it snow here?"
every year, i give them the same explanation: florida is closer to the equator than the northern part of our country, so it doesn't get cold enough, etc, etc, etc. and they also get the story of how it snowed here when i was 10. but no matter how well you explain it, and no matter how right you are, it doesn't make them want to see snow any less! so when our recent travels to nashville coincided with a winter storm's recent travels through birmingham, the kids could not have been more excited.

by the time we were north of montgomery, i was already seeing some flurries. the kids were straining at first to see the rain/snow, but soon, it was definitely snow. this was our view as we headed toward birmingham.


all you northerners are laughing, but this was a big deal to us. :) the snowfall got heavier, and i was just praying that it was sticking just enough in birmingham for us to play in, but not enough to cause us problems on the road. before too long, our view turned awfully white. the kids could not have been more excited.


(photos courtesy of ethan and gram... i was driving.)

the snow suddenly stopped falling, and i was worried that by the time we got through birmingham, our opportunity to play in the snow would be (literally) melted away. but as we drove through birmingham, everything was white. the kids didn't notice that it wasn't actually snowing. they were in the middle of the most fun ispy game ever! trees covered with snow! roofs covered with snow! grass covered with snow! there were even cars covered with snow!


we got through birmingham and pulled into this rest area. and i was worried there'd be no snow left. the kids could not have been more excited.


i loved seeing each and every expression as their wish came true!


amelia was the first to pick up a snowball.


it wasn't long before they realized that gloves were a good idea!


the three happiest kids on I-65!



for the next hour, my children threw snowballs at each other, drew with sticks in the snow, and ran up and down a big ole alabama hill over and over and over.





all those footprints in the snow represent an hour of pure childhood joy!


my mom and i took turns thawing out in the car with snug-as-a-bug hallie while the other one supervised the snow-happy kiddos on the hill. i really wanted to at least get hallie in a picture with us all, but i was a little nervous walking on the ice-ish, slushy parking lot with a roly poly baby in my arms. and she voted to stay snug-as-a-bug.

here are my mom and i each with the kids. it was such a fun hour!



the sun was beginning to set, and we just had a little more than 2 more hours to go on our trip. so we loaded up these little floridian popsicles, changed into dry clothes, and were on our way.


"on our way" translated to driving 8 miles in 3 hours due to interstate delays/closings, but this is a fun post, and i don't wanna talk about the torture of sitting in the car for 3 hours going nowhere.

SO it was a wonderful dream of an afternoon for my children to see snow for the very first time. they loved every single minute of it and cannot wait to frolic in the snow again.

but today they wore shorts and flip-flops on january 28 in florida, so i'm thinking they'd better start dreaming about the beach.

sugarplum

merry christmas!

not the christmas i was planning

this week was supposed to be a great precursor to christmas. by last weekend, i had accomplished something for the first time since we've lived in this house: besides laundry waiting to be washed, every room in our house was in order at the same time. oh yes indeedy. and our calendar for this week was very empty, which meant that there would be lots of time to finally do some fun christmas-y things with the kids. there were christmas lights to see and christmas cookies to make and crafts to make and presents to wrap... and it is hallie's first christmas! which means lots and lots of pictures to take! yes, it was going to be a holly jolly week.

was.

instead, brian and all the kids got colds and fevers, and not wanting to be outdone, i got the flu. so i spent the last 3 days in the recliner or my bed, shivering with a pretty high fever at times, with a big ole bowl in my lap. brian did a great job holding down the fort (not feeling so great himself), and i am happy to say that we are all on the mend. these three sentences really do not do my flu experience justice, but i'm done breathing, thinking, and living the flu experience, so let's just say it was worse than my 30+ hour labor with ethan, and now we can move on.

now for the laundry. 'cause that was the part that didn't get done at my house last weekend. it was already piled up. a week ago. and now every single solitary thing in this house that anyone has touched in the last week must be washed. my dear mother came over today (who had originally taken off today to make christmas cookies with us), and we all sanitized and aired out and cleaned and washed till we dropped. we only made a dent in the laundry. but we washed our hands 8,546 times each. (do not let the picture above fool you. there is more laundry behind the coffee table and another good 5-7 loads in the foyer behind the tree!)

so yes, i will thankfully be over this flu by christmas day (i was beginning to wonder that 48 hrs ago)... but getting these germs outta my house and everything back in its place? that's gonna take me the next few days. it looks like christmas festivities will have to be put on the back burner again... until christmas eve.

this was not the way i'd planned for this week to go.

of course, this is all so incredibly trivial when i remember the hurting families in connecticut mourning the loss of their precious children and loved ones. this was not the christmas they were planning whatsoever.

and then i think about mary. giving birth to her Savior in a dirty ole' stable was probably not exactly what she had planned either!

so even though my plans for this week have not been fulfilled, we will still be celebrating God's Rescue Plan that was fulfilled in the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Lord willing, we will join our church family on christmas eve for a beautiful evening of lessons and carols.

we will have our little family christmas here on tuesday morning before heading over to brian's parents' for our first christmas in their gorgeous new house!

i think christmas cookies will become new years' cookies this year.

and we may even get to drive around and look at christmas lights before everybody takes them down.

so it will still be christmas. not the christmas i was planning, but a very merry christmas indeed. we have so, so very much to be thankful for, and there's nothing like a little flu-bug to flip your week upside down and give you some perspective!

if i don't reappear before 2013, don't worry... the laundry didn't really overtake me. i am just enjoying the christmas i wasn't planning.

what about me!?

hey! you can't have all this talk about teeth and not tell the world about my first tooth!!!