Snow!

The last few winters have been really quite mild in Kansas. This year the forecast was for about 12-14 inches for the entire season, and before last week, I think we'd had 3 or 4 inches. When we saw they were forecasting 9-15 inches of snow for Thursday, Feb 21st, it didn't seem realistic. Until Thursday morning, when the snow came down in big, fluffy flakes at the rate of 3 inches per hour, for about 3 hours! In no time, the yard looked like this...

 We ended up with 9 inches of snow, more than I can remember in years! We actually couldn't open the door to the patio, and had to push the storm door as the snow was piled higher than the threshold. Joe wasn't feeling great, so I opted to shovel while the kids napped. A neighbor came by and helped with the parts near the street, and it didn't take too long at all. Right after I finished, Joseph woke up from his nap and wanted to play, so we bundled him up and headed back out.

I managed to convince him to make his first ever snow angel, and then we set off trying to build a snow fort, until Molly ran right through it and knocked it down.

I couldn't believe it when the forecast came out for Sunday/Monday, and we learned that there was going to be another big snow storm, and forecasters were again predicting 8-15 inches! Our weather hadn't warmed up much over the weekend, so while the snow had melted a bit, we still had plenty on the yard.

On Monday, the 25th, I opted to run some errands, knowing Tuesday and Wednesday could be ugly for traveling out. The kids were great, and Maddie got the chance to ride in the grocery store shopping cart for the first time ever! She had a great time checking everything and everyone out, and actually seemed upset when I pulled her out and had to put her back into her car seat.

Tuesday morning we woke up to a much different snow storm - this time the wind and warmer temps combined to make it look like it was raining snow, and what resulted was heavy and wet. We were fortunate to only lose our cable/internet service, as many people around KC lost power.

Molly had a bit of a hard time getting out her dog door, which was practically snowed in by this point!

Notice how high the snow is piled up around Joseph's play house? You can't even see the bottom half, where the door is! We got about another 9-10 inches with this storm and since there was at least 5-6 inches left on the yard, it was super deep by the time the snow finally ended. Molly had to leap over the snow as it was almost up to her belly.

Joseph woke up really excited to see all of the snow coming down, and to know that Dad was staying home from work! Super JoJo couldn't wait to get outside to play and help Daddy clear the sidewalk and driveway.

I'm really glad I went shopping for next winter's snow pants this year, as he definitely needed the longer pants for these late winter snow storms! His pants from last year still fit but were a bit short, so I'm glad we had another pair to break in.

Since the idea of playing in deep snow was still fresh in his mind, he was much more agreeable to getting out and being silly. It didn't take long for him to start making snow angels near the house...

He modified it slightly, since he could fall back, sit down, and then plop all the way back.

Joe opted to build a snowman and some columns, since the snow was perfect for building. Joseph tried to help, but was frequently distracted by the snow plows and tractors out clearing the streets and driveways. This snow produced some of the prettiest winter scenes I've seen in years, as the wet snow clung to every tree limb and branch. We were fortunate that we didn't lose any trees or big limbs, as many of our neighbors did.

When Madeline woke up from her nap, she wanted to check out what her big brother and dad were doing.

What do you mean I'm too little to play outside too? I'm pretty sure if we put her down in the snow, it might have just covered her up!

Joe's final product... Unfortunately the columns started to fall over with the high winds by late afternoon. And Joseph got really upset that Joe left his tiger hat on his, ahem, snowman, so we had a snow mound next to the columns.

The next day Joe came home from work early as most of his clients rescheduled. I had given him too much trouble about his snowman building abilities, so he challenged me to build a better snowman. After taking Molly for a great afternoon run around the neighborhood, I did just that.

Joseph woke up just as I was finishing up, and was happy to discover that I repurposed the original snowman into a tunnel with a slide down the slide. It's a good thing we have plenty of warm mittens and hats, as he quickly donned the snow gear and came out to play again!

He was really excited about driving a fire engine through the tunnel. And then left it outside in the tunnel for the next week.

Joseph was really excited to see the new snowman. I made its head two sided, so it looked finish from his room and the street. As it melted away over the last few weeks, he's been sad to see the snowman go.

If and when we move from this house, I will definitely miss days and views like this from our bathroom. It's fun being so high above the other houses, especially when nature provides such fun scenery!

It's been a rare and fun treat to have so much snow this winter, without the horrible ice storms or problems with losing power. With a forecast of 75 degree temps for later this week, I'm happy to see spring appears to be on its way soon though!