Thursday, January 1, 2009

The Wonder of Winter

If your going to live in Minnesota, you have to be ready to embrace that it's gonna snow and it's gonna get cold. And I'll be the first to say that by the end of January I'm thinking "Why the heck to we live in this God forsaken ice box." But I'm not there yet. I'm still embracing and loving the snow, because part of me loves it. I think if you live here too, you need to be able to know how to play in the snow or your gonna go crazy.

And I think maybe I've succeed at teaching my kids to embrace it too.

So 3 days ago after dragging the boys through the 70% off Christmas sales at Target, and then $150 dollar grocery trip (because the little hooligans are eating me out of house and home while on "winter" break), it started to snow on our half an hour drive home.

And not just your average snow. Big huge, gorgeous flakes. The kind that make you feel like some giant has just shook the snow globe that you are living in and now you just stand there while they descend.

These are the kinds of snow falls you live for each year. Because you don't think about the fact that it's not as pretty when you are shoveling it. And because it's not that pretty when you slide off the highway and your car is stuck in the stuff.

Years ago when the boys where little I would get all excited over these snowfalls, and yell, "Grab your boots....we gotta go catch snowflakes!!!!"

And apparently it hasn't worn off. Because they jumped out of the car to do this...



First, you need to check them out at little.



It starts with eyeing up the big flakes and trying to catch just the right one.



And when you have really long eyelashes, that are just wrong to have as a boy, the snow will stick to them. (As well as your overly long, hippy-ish hair, that makes it look like your mother can't afford a haircut).




And then you stand there, weaving and bobbing, making weird noises that make you sound like Chewbacca, because your tongue is stuck as far as it will go out.




Or you can opt to catch them on your hands, and eat them that way.



Or perhaps just stand there, tongue extended, waiting for one to just stick.



And then there is the chopping attack mode.



And lastly there is the "when a snowflake hits your eye and forces it closed, it causes your tongue to get all contorted". And luckily your mom makes a priceless snapshot!!!



Embrace winter everyone, we only have 4 more months to go!!!!!

3 comments:

Kathynruss said...

Love that last pic! My sister regularly calls me down here in FL to give me weather reports. She says Minnesota's winters are "character building." I had a boss (think Atticus Finch older and thinner) who thought it was freezing out at 40 degrees one January. I told him you hadn't felt cold till your nose hairs crackle! (Yes, I have visited sis in MN in Nov.!) He was horrified at the very idea! LOL

Kathynruss said...

Now, there's only three months to go!

Kathynruss said...

Less than a month! Where did you go? Fall off the face of the Earth? Snowed in?