Into the Woods on a Snowy Morning

We had two snow days and a delayed start this week and it was fabulous.  Part of that time we didn't have power so we had to search in the ice and snow for things we could burn to keep warm. Atley felt pretty manly throughout the whole experience.  One morning we went into the woods.  It was so quiet and peaceful. You would never guess that we were just minutes away from the most powerful city in the world.

  
 

Atley made the cutest little snowman. Harley named him Frozen. It was hard to say goodbye when it was time to walk back home. 

We had power long enough to make cookies.  Nash is kind of like the friend of the Little Red Hen.  He is never too keen on helping but he sure enjoys the finished product.

Eventually we ran out of things to burn but this didn't dampen the kid's desire to roast something.  One of our favorite campfire treats are roasted Starbursts.  So, they settled in around one little candle and roasted to their hearts content.

Of course we managed to squeeze in a craft or two including these pretty little snow globes made from mason jars and bottle-brush trees.

I think my favorite thing about the whole snowy experience was when we put back on our pajamas and crawled into my bed around noon. I read to them for almost two hours and they were perfectly content.  We didn't have any commitments. There was no place to rush off to or anything that absolutely had to be finished. There was no TV or Computer to distract us or video games to fight about. Those are rare days indeed and I think we all relished in the simplicity of the fleeting moment. Soon the power came back on and I had e-mails and phone calls that needed to be answered. Atley's teacher even felt the need to give him homework to do while he was snow bound.  After all, his text books are accessible online, he might as well be working.  I was slightly frustrated with that mentality but he got his work done and trudged off to school this morning with his snow-work snugly zipped in his binder.

Scott and I got a very rare few hours away from the kids last night to attend his work Christmas party.  Scott reserved a suite to watch the Washington Capitols play. I think everyone had a great time and I know Scott was relieved when it was over. It was a fantastic game that went into overtime and eventually into a shoot-out.  Our best player Alex Ovechkin even broke a few records. Since I have only been to 4 games in my entire life it was easy for me to call it the best hockey game ever.  We even got to eat Shake Shack for dinner-a little piece of burger heaven right there!