Snow for the weekend

You know, if we are going to have snow I'm ok with it showing up on Saturday night, sticking around long enough to play in on Sunday and then melting away by Monday morning.

It's like a playdate with snow. 

Just a dusting

Just a sprinkling of snow, just enough to delay the last day of school, enough to make a snowball and then it's gone. But it's nice to watch and a cozy background for decorating gingerbread houses. 

and then....

Hey there. Sorry this took so long, I was going to post sooner but I was having technical difficulties with blogger and internet explorer. Thankfully I have live-in help and he found a way around it. (I'm now using blogger and chrome and it seems to be working fine.) 

So here we are in early January, getting back into our routines. I admit that it's been a little bit of a rough transition. I kept forgetting things- the snack bag, the leotard, the end time of the class. But, I think we are getting back into it. 

                                        Here we are, reading in bed on a Saturday morning...

                                                 Unity loves helping with projects, especially ones that involve tools.

                                      Ta Da- it's the new Lego table. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa!
                               (and don't worry, it only stayed this clean for about three minutes.)

                                 
                                    It snowed! For about ten minutes but still. You can see that right?
                                It's proof, it really happened.

                                    Our new stairs, and the snow.

                                           Our old garden, and the snow.

                               Oh and here's what that Lego table looks like in real life. It's a well
                                populated little city with plenty of trucks.
       

Snow!

It's so rare when we get snow. And then when it combines with a day that's already a holiday? It's perfect. Everywhere we went in our neighborhood people were out playing in and enjoying the snow. We looked at the tracks in the sidewalk, both human sized feet and otherwise. We saw our garden transformed into some other place. We waved at neighbors carrying their sleds to the hilly street. We helped our neighbors work on an igloo. It collapsed but still. We pilled into Megan's house, peeling off piles of wet gloves and watching cartoons while drinking hot cocoa.

and then this morning it was gone. But possibilities for more hang over us, just waiting. Maybe.

Weekending- snow day

                            I spent most of Friday just pinching myself, trying to believe that I had really passed the test. It still doesn't quite feel real but I am so relieved just the same. We watched the most gorgeous sunset from the front porch, it made even our busy gritty street look awash with wonder.

                          Saturday we were massively busy, running from a birthday party to our incredible rotating date night. The party was at an ice skating rink and Unity had fun once she got the hang of it. For date night we hung out   with Cooper and his fam while Sophie's parents hit a happy hour. I am constantly thankful for this community we've helped create. Sunday morning we woke up to this: see above. It fell softly but steadily all day.   I walked alone to Meeting for Worship, remembering how much I love snow. It is easy to love snow when it only happens once a year, or less. Our city pretty much shuts down whenever it happens so walking outside feels festive and valiant and strangers are greeting each other and kids are sleding down closed off hilly streets.

My own kids are feeling a little sniffly so they stayed in. Unity and I had a mother daughter knitting party, topped off with some hot cocoa. Now they are curled up with Chris watching Mary Poppins. What else is a snow day for?

P.S.

I realized the morning shot doesn't really do the snow justice, so here's a twilight shot off the back porch.

Linking with Amanda at Habit of Being.

White Christmas part 2

Unity insisted that I add this shot.

Drumming on the floor with Uncle Michael's drum sticks!

white christmas part 1

Christmas in Woodstock Vermont is a charming affair. The town center seems unchanged from Colonial days, with grand brick houses facing the center Green and small shops lining the friendly main street. Covered wooden bridges iced with a few inches of fresh snow seem ordered by central casting but they are the real deal.

We were a big sprawling family group, there to visit Chris's mom who lives there in the house where he grew up. His sister and her family came, my parents and brother came. All in all we were twelve, family from across the country able to celebrate this time together. When it was over, my brother went to NYC to get ready for New Years, my parents went home to Chicago to get ready for their sojourn to Florida, we went home to Seattle, Kristine and her family went home to Davis and Ann got to enjoy a few moments of peace and quiet. I am thinking about how extraordinary it is that we are all so spread out and yet able to meet up and make the family traditions happen. It's so different from the way I grew up where my family was all within a few hours drive from Chicago. But we are pulled into different stories, reaching for different things and yet still, a few times a year we can gather at the source. Our family, gathering and expanding. It's so nice to see my family and Chris's family knowing each other, including each other, linked not by blood but because once this scruffy girl and this scruffy boy hung out together in a bookstore.

snow my goodness!

It's true, Seattle has had a bout of snow. Given that we have no real snow infrastructure a few inches of snow tends to pretty much shut down the city. Unity's school was canceled and Chris worked from home all week. But- the upside of closed hilly streets is street sledding and we took great advantage of it.