Snow is magic

Yesterday morning I was on the phone with Aunt Missy as I was getting the kids in the car to drive to the bus stop. We were talking about work. We got in the car and my phone synced with the car so everyone could hear our conversation. John started talking to me and I looked back and realized his coat wasn't zipped. I said "John zip up your coat it's cold out!" This was probably the second or third time I yelled at the kids during my conversation with Aunt Missy. She took this as an opportunity to tell the kids "Guys, you better listen to Mommy because if you don't the snow won't come to your house. It will snow everywhere else and you won't be able to play in it." She quickly hung up and I was left with two kids that didn't understand. John said "How is that possible?" Gillian said "I don't understand." I said "Well where does snow come from?" Gillian didn't know. I said "It comes from the North Pole. And who else to we know that lives in the North Pole?" She said "Santa!" I then asked "Isn't Santa the most magical person ever?" Gilly said "Well elves are magic too!" I said "Exactly, the North Pole is magic. So snow must be magic too!" She was totally on board until we heard John say "Well actually snow is made from tiny water particles in the air. It doesn't come from the North Pole." He totally debunked my whole story. Oh well, I think snow is magic. 

It's snowing

John woke up a little while ago and snuggled up in our bed. I said "John, you can snuggle for a little bit, but then we have to get ready for school." He said "Umm, it's snowing." I said "What?" He said "It's snowing." Daddy caved and said "No school today!" John smiled and said "See! It's snowing. Snow Day!"

Flowers

Daddy and I overheard the following conversation:

Gillian: You know, Miss Mary (one of her teachers) doesn't like the snow. You know why? Because it kills her flowers.

 

John: Well, you gotta look on the bright side, the snow only lasts a couple of days and then it's gone.

Gillian: Yea, but the flowers are still dead. 

The Hat

Yesterday I was getting her dressed to go outside. We couldn't find a particular hat. She said "I want the one I got for Christmas." I knew the hat she was looking for but it was in Daddy's car. I told her that and we went outside. I looked in Daddy's car and I found the hat she wanted. She immediately traded the one she had on for the "Christmas hat." On a side note, she didn't get the hat this Christmas, she got it Christmas of 2012. She has a good memory. 

This morning, I helped her get her coat on before she left for school. I tried to put her hat on (the Christmas hat).  She looked at me and said "No Mommy, I can't wear that. It's a Christmas hat!" Oh that explains everything. 

Another Snow Day

I woke up this morning, and it wasn't snowing.  But I checked online to see if the kids had school.  Both schools were closed in anticipation of today's snow storm.  I told Daddy about the school closures and he said "Okay."  Luckily, he was scheduled off today because he worked on Saturday.  I got ready and went to work.  As I was leaving, John woke up and walked downstairs.  "Is it a stay at home day?"  he asked us.  We explained that it was a school day but school was closed because it was snowing (it had started snowing by this point).  He was super excited about no school!

After working a few hours, I came home to find Daddy making the kids lunch.  We had lunch and the kids played for a little bit.  Then I bundled them up and we all went outside to play.  I practically had to beg John to come outside with us.  He kept saying "I'll just watch you guys."  After bundling the kids up (that takes forever), we went outside and started to play.  The snow was good snowball/snowman snow.  I attempted to make a few small snowmen, but Gilly-zilla smashed them all.  John and I had a little snowball fight and the Gillian got bored.  "Smashing makes me tired.  I go inside."  Johnny and I decided to go in the backyard to play and Gillian's attitude changed.  We went out back and the kids went right to their playground.  They had to go down the slide and play on the swings.  After awhile, Gillian and I got tired and we went inside to play.  John stayed outside for another half hour after that.  He kept himself busy playing on the swings and clearing off the deck.  For someone who didn't want to go outside, he stayed out for a long time.

At dinner, I asked everyone "What was your favorite part of the day?"  John said "I think you know!  It was the snowball fight!"  Gillian said "Daddy.  Daddy and John." Overall, a pretty awesome snow day.

   

the snowman

I ran out this afternoon to do a few errands and I was surprised to see the kids and Daddy in the front yard.  As I pulled in the driveway, I rolled the window down and asked "What are you guys doing?"  Gillian smiled and said "We's making a snowman!"  We attempted to make a snowman on Friday when we were out in the snow.  But the snow was too dry.  It wasn't good packing snow.  It had warmed up today and the snow melted a little and made it easier to make a snowman.  Daddy and John worked on making the body of the snowman, while Gillian just walked around.  I helped her find a couple of sticks for arms and she told me "We need a carrot for him's nose!"  I asked Daddy "What else do we need?"  Daddy rattled off a list of items and I ran into the house.  I remembered that a few years ago Grandma gave us a snowman kit.  I found the kit in Gillian's closet and I went back outside to my family.  John immediately questioned me "What's in the box?"  I told him to bring it to Daddy and then he could open it up.  Inside were all the pieces to make a perfect snowman, a hat, a scarf, eyes, carrot nose, a pipe, buttons and a mouth.  Finally our snowman was complete.  John was so proud.

 

snow day

Friday was a snow day for the entire family.  I woke up early and John was the first one to join me.  He was super excited about no school.  Gillian, on the other hand, didn't wake up until 9:30.  The kids were good all day.  They didn't fight and they didn't really ask to watch television.  They played Legos and babies and dress-up and ninja turtles. 

I asked the kids if they wanted to go outside and play.  Gillian screamed "YES!"  John said "No thank you."  I asked him "Why?"  He said "Because I don't want to take off my jammies."  First of all, yes, they were still in their jammies.  It was a snow day.  And I said "Well you can keep them on.  Let's go."  I bundled the kids up in their snow pants and hats and gloves and scarves.  Poor Gillian couldn't put her arms down and John said "It's hard to walk around."  Their complaints stopped when we got outside.  John went running towards their playground and Gillian needed some help getting down the stairs of the deck.  She walked towards John and wanted to climb up on the playground too!  But we had John clear off some of the snow first so it was easier for her.  We even convinced John to go down the slide. 

We asked Gillian if she wanted to make a snow angel.  She said "Okay."  I asked her "Do you know what a snow angel is?"  She said "When you lay in the snow and move your arms and legs?"  I'm impressed.  Last year, she didn't really play in the snow too much so I was surprised to hear that she knew was it was.  She made a beautiful snow angel.  And John did too!  Even Daddy made a giant snow angel.

 

 



Gilly and Mommy got cold and we went back inside.  John decided to stay outside and play.  I watched him from the kitchen.  He took his snow shovel and would fill up the slide with snow and then he would climb up on the playground and then try to go down the slide.  He got stuck one time and didn't know what to do.  But he didn't panic and he figured out how to get out.  The next time, he brought the shovel down the slide with him so that he could dig himself out when he got stuck.

We had so much fun playing in the snow.

 

back to school

This morning it was hard to wake the kids up.  I knew it would be rough and I sent them to bed at 7:30 the night before.  But it didn't help.  I went in to wake up John.  He just grunted at me and said "Why do I have to go back to school?"  Gillian, on the other hand, actually jumped out of bed.  Daddy had climbed into her bed to snuggle with her.  They snuggled contently until I walked in, then she jumped into my arms.  They were slow to decide on what they wanted for breakfast.  They were slow to put on their shoes.  After Daddy and Gillian left, all John did was complain.  "Why do I have to go to school?  Why do we have to learn to read?  Why do we have to do so much work?"  I explained to him that we need to go to school to learn things so that we can have good jobs and nice houses and cars and etc.  He hates that answer.

We got to the bus stop.  It was freezing this morning.  We were out there for like two minutes and John was complaining.  "We have been out here for like 20 hours!  When is the bus coming?"  While we waiting, he said "I wish weekends were 7 days!  You know, like my shirt!"  He got a shirt that says "I vote for a 7 day weekend" for Christmas from his Aunt Betty.  Apparently it stuck with him, because after having twelve days off he still wanted more.

At dinner tonight, I asked John about his day.  He said "It was good.  We watched a movie.  And Mrs. G helped me write a story."  I asked him who Mrs. G was.  He said "She's the lady that comes in when Mrs. Belena isn't in."  How lucky is this kid?  His first day back he got a substitute teacher and school is closed tomorrow because of the snow storm.  He is one lucky boy what a easy way to adjust to the routine after winter break.   

Tree shopping

We planned to do our annual Christmas tree shopping this afternoon. We met at Conover Tree farm in Wall and started our search for the perfect tree. Did I mention that it was snowing today? Well it was snowing. Not enough to cancel our trip, but enough to make it a little chilly for the kids. We walked around and looked for the perfect tree. John knew exactly how tall the tree should be. "It's me and Dad together! If I sit on his shoulders." About ten minutes into our search, Gillian fell in the snow. She didn't get hurt, but that did mean that Mommy needed to carry her the rest of the way. But she was very helpful, every tree we passed she asked "How about that one?" We finally found the perfect tree. While the guys cut the tree down, Gillian and I warmed up in the car. Gillian fell asleep in the car on the way home. I think running through a field in the snow was exhausting.

sNOw day!

Gillian woke up this morning and looked out the window.  She said "There's snow on Daddy's car!"  We had to find Daddy right away so she could tell him about his car.  John was already awake talking to Daddy about going "snowboarding."  We told the kids that we would go outside and play after Daddy cleaned up the driveway and the cars.  John was very concerned that we wouldn't get outside before the snow melted.  He hasn't had a good track record this winter.  So far this winter we have only gotten a small amount of snow and it has been melting before he remembers that he wants to go outside and play.  There was no way the snow would melt too fast today.  We got about 6 inches by us. 

We got the kids dressed in their snow gear and we headed over to Holmdel Park.  There is a huge sledding hill there and it is well worth the drive.  We brought two snow tubes and John's snowboard.  John and Daddy went to the big hill first on the big snow tube.  John loved it.  Gillian and I waited in line for the little hill and I sent her down on the small snow tube.  She loved it when I pushed her down, but when Daddy caught her at the bottom, she was not happy.  Next we all went to the big hill, I went down by myself in the small tube.  The tubes are fast.  You fly down the hill.  I ran into a couple of kids, but luckily no one got hurt.  I quickly got off and looked for John.  He was the next to go down.  He went down on his snowboard, and only got about halfway down the hill.  I had to run and find him.  We were very smart and told him that when he stopped in his sled, he needed to get off and move to the fence.  That's where I found him, at the fence.  Next Daddy and Gillian went down on the big tube.  Again, she wasn't too sure about the ride.  She like the first half and then cried at the bottom.  We decided maybe we should stick to the small hill for a little bit.  John went down a couple of times on his snow board and we got Gillian to go down once.  We thought that if we told her Mommy would catch her at the bottom, it would help.  Daddy pushed her down the hill, he said she was laughing and smiling.  But by the time she reached me, she was crying.  Poor little lady did not like it! 

 

Finally, we decided to go back to the big hill.  Gillian and I went down on the big tube.  Again, I am thankful that we had a tube.  It made for a fast ride, but I didn't feel guilty when we bumped into a few people.  We did bump into like six people on our trip.  Everyone was so nice and understanding.  Gillian loved the trip down the hill, but again was crying when we reached the bottom.  I didn't have time to console her, I had to look for John.  John wanted to go down on the small tube by himself.  He did great!  Like I said, the tubes went fast and John collided with another kid and flipped out of his tube.  I caught the tube and then found John on the hill.  He was smiling ear to ear.  He loved it! 

They boys did another run by themselves while Gillian and I waited at the bottom of the hill.  They went so far in the big tube.  They ended up almost to the end of the hill.  They even ran into a group of kids that thought they were safe hanging out at the bottom.  The kids were safe until Daddy and John got into their tube! 

We got home, and John wanted to play outside more.  I joined him for a little bit and he told me that he was looking for "ice sticks."  I guess he found a couple of icicles hanging off of the jungle gym and thought they were super cool.  So he was searching for more.  I pointed out all the icicles hanging from the roof of the house and he said "But we will never reach all of those ice sticks!"

In the car on the way home, we asked Gillian if she had fun.  She said "No!"  We asked John if he had fun, and he said "It was awesome!"  Overall, a pretty fun day for everyone.  Well with the exception of Gillian!

Inside out PJs

John heard on the radio the other night that we might get snow today. This morning he woke up and wanted to know where the snow was. We explained to him that the snow probably wouldn't come until after school. I also told him that I had a secret way to get it to it to snow more. I explained that if you sleep with your pajamas on inside out that sometimes it snows. He didn't believe it. I said call your cousin Bert. He did it and they got snow. Daddy also explained to him that you need to get a lot of lot of kids to wear their PJs inside out. The more kids that do it makes more magic. This whole thing really stuck with John. In the car on the way to school, he said "How can we get more kids to wear their Jammies outside in?" Inside out, I corrected him. We talked about how we could call our cousins and he could tell his friends at school. I'm sure he told everyone about it at school. By the time I left work it was snowing. John was so excited. After dinner he called his cousins and asked them to wear their PJs inside out. At bedtime both John and Gillian wore their PJs inside out. Gillian kept saying "It's backwards!" I snuggled with John for a little bit and he said "we didn't tell everyone yet. We have one more person to tell." I said ok, should I text Uncle T? He said "No. It's someone that lives far away." Jokingly, I said should I tell Mr. Matt, because he lives far away. John said "No! You know! Mr. Matt loves really close. No. You know this guy. He lives far away and we see him once a year." It took me a little while and I finally figured it out. Santa! John said "Yes! But he probably has snow up there. Maybe he can send us snow!" My little man is always thinking! I hope the snow lasts until tomorrow and John gets to play in it.