Please Stop it, Snow!

This morning after breakfast I found Joshua perched on the window sill in the living room, gazing somberly at the whirldwinds of fluffy flakes falling upon the existing 2-3 feet of snow already blanketing the ground. "Snow, please stop it. Please stop it, snow," Joshua sweetly implored. Today marks day 6 of our impromptu blizzard-induced family "vacation". It's the third consecutive day that the federal government has been closed, which means Daddy gets paid to stay home with us! And by "stay home with us," I mean "shovel snow for hours on end (not only our driveway, but also those of our elderly and disabled neighbors, as well as the trampoline), only to come inside and referee our cabin-fever-plagued boys' fights". Hmmm... maybe this isn't much of a vacation for Daddy after all! Either way, we are so thankful that Joe got his new job before this crazy winter, since at his previous job he would've had to make up the hours or burn through his precious saved-up vacation time.

Since mid-December, we've only had about two days when our yard was completely void of snow. That's nearly two straight months of snow, virtually unheard of here in Virginia. I'm so glad that the twins' snowsuits I found at Marshalls the night before the first big storm are getting plenty of use. At first I was skeptical about spending $25 per snow suit, but in retrospect they were definitely a good investment! And this time around, I was thrilled to be the recipient of some second-hand boys snow boots on Freecycle. I usually plan ahead and buy the boys their clothes and shoes a year or two ahead of time on end-of-season clearance, but I've never bothered stocking up on snow gear since we usually only get a few inches at most each winter. I guess I should start scouting out some duds for next winter, although I suspect there will be slim pickin's at the stores after this year's whirlwind of wintry weather!