Yesterday was a really great day. We started it off with our first snow of the season. At breakfast somebody suggested the kids go outside to make a snowman, and it was all over! It took us forever to get them out the door, since we hadn't quite located all the snow gear yet, but we finally got them all bundled up. They had hours of fun in that fluffy white stuff. It was Katya's first real experience with snow, and she dove right in! She ate snow the entire time, and her face was beet red because of it. But she had such a ball! The snowman was a joint effort. Even Katya helped roll and pat the balls, and Claire was sent to fetch a nose. The photo in the middle may be the best photo I've ever taken of all my kids at the same time!
The boys stuck with it until the snowman was complete. They each went through two pairs of mitts. (We had to assure them that mitts getting wet was perfectly normal, and the solution was as simple as changing mitts). They used a bike helmet for a hat. The whole snowman was completely their own doing. The only thing Vlad helped with was getting the middle ball up where it belonged. Snow is heavy!! Other than that, the whole thing was the boys' work. I thought they did a pretty good job!
The kids and I spent the afternoon shopping for lumber for small woodworking project, and then grocery shopping. When Vlad got home, we finished off our day with pot roast, apple cider, and caramel apple fondue (and awesome kid-friendly way to make caramel apples without the mess of the caramel apple). What a treat, and a perfectly cozy day!
