Snow Day!

Today was the very first snow day of the season.
The first four grand kids arrived at 8:30.
They could not wait to get outside and into all that snow.
I looked out my living room window and could not figure out why they were doing this.

Carrying snow clumps from the front yard...

down the side walk...

and piling them onto the swing.
WHATEVER FOR?
I asked, and they said a lot of words, but I could not tell from those words what the point of it was.
I told them that they could NOT pile them there, but could use them to build a fort or something somewhere else.
Anywhere else, really.
(Why on the swing?)

They DID remove them, but they were not happy about it.
Now we have a fort of sorts between the sidewalk and the road.
It is complete with very pointy icicles pointing skyward in a menacing fashion.
It will probably be there until April.
Oh, snow days.

A Wintery Sleep-over Morning

We haven't had a sleep-over here in awhile.
Last night we had FOUR at a time.
The boys watched Christmas movies last night while Famke and I did crafts and chatted in the dining room.
Everyone was happy.
By morning there was A LOT of snow!
Pake made us French toast.

I slept in.
I have a cough.
Cough, COUGH,  COUGH!

It's a winter wonderland over here for sure!

This.

This is what Michigan looked like on Saturday morning.  Winter has its own kind of desolate beauty.

These Two

After dinner tonight I looked out the window and saw Jonge and Kado hard at work.  They were going up and down the street gathering large clumps of snow from the snowbanks at the end of other people's driveways and dropping them down in our front yard.  To make a fort, they said.

It's COLD

 It was a beautiful morning here, for those of us who did not have to drive.

 It did not take long for the sky to turn a lovely shade of blue.

Feintsje  spent the day with me.  Not sure what the game was, but he pushed the Lego blocks around with an old cane.  It made a horrible sound, which he seemed to enjoy more than I did.

 He had his reading material for the day, and I had mine.  We both have colds.  Poor us.

 Feintsje likes having books read to him, playing alone with cars, and making noise with the Lego blocks.  Beppe likes reading books to Feintsje, watching him play alone with his cars, and asking him to please not make so much noise with the Lego.

Sometimes I sense that I am losing my hearring.  How is that a problem, I wonder...

Snowy Saturday

Nine inches of actual snow fall.

Hip deep in drifted places.

Very thankful for the snow blower and THGGM who operates it.

Out My Window

While waiting for Kado and Feintsje this morning I took a few pictures out of my front window.

Winter IS beautiful.
And cold.

Milk and Cookies on a Snow Day

Yesterday was the second snow day of the season.

It was great having the older two kids around.

 We had milk and cookies for our morning snack.
Well, I had coffee.

I love snow days!

She Waves Goodbye to the Week End

Friday was a snow day.  I never left the house.  I never do on Friday, so this wasn't anything new, but I enjoyed looking out at all that snow I didn't have to drive in.
Four adorable children came to play with me for the afternoon.
On Saturday I watched it snow while crocheting my second scarf of the week.  Such a relaxing thing to do on snowy days.  Of course, we didn't let any snow stop us from going out for breakfast and to our favorite thirfty places.  Sadly, we did not grocery shop, which meant that today I had to get creative in the kitchen.  With the small amounts of this and that I was able to gather up, I made a rather good chicken pot pie.  Even THGGM made yummy sounds while he ate it.
And now I am off to bed to read a book my sister loaned me about Ellis Island.  Reading, crocheting, sleeping, what's not to like about winter?

Sixteen Days? Seriously?

Out my window today there is snow!

I don't mind snow at all when I am snug inside. It is pretty to look at and does put me more in the mind of Christmas. The string and yarn were in a bowl in my kitchen. In my very odd head I was hoping to turn them into some cutely embellished snow people. But the elf heads were also just sitting in the kitchen, and, what with the new snow and all I just couldn't help myself. This is why I don't get anything done. There is just too much raw material to play with. Certainly you understand this? Please say "yes". THGGM does not understand this. But he is a kind man and not one to complain.

Snowy Morning in West Michigan

Really, it wasn't as snowy here as some other places! Not even snowy enough for THGGM to fire up the snow blower.

There were two pairs of willing hands for shoveling.

And, they are pretty good at it, too!

Then the nice neighbor with the riding John Deere tractor came to scoop out the end of the driveway.

Of course, now Jason Aldean's summer hit "Big Green Tractor" has been zipping through my head all day.