Now back to our regularly scheduled programming blogging.

This is Mia sliding down the hill on her back.

This is me sliding down the hill on my butt filming the kids on a toboggan.

 Wednesday virtually no one in the state was allowed out but Thursday we were able to find a semi-plowed place to park next to a perfect* hill.
*perfect=big enough to be fun for PJ, not so but that preschoolers need to be carried to the top.

Number of days since our last trash pick up………………………8

Number of days until our next trash pick up……………2 (maybe 6)

Number of days of missed school…………………………………4 1/2

Number of inches of snow since Friday……………………………~39

Number of consecutive days not seeing the out-of-doors………2
I know this doesn’t seem like a lot but it felt like an eternity

Number of hours Patrick spent shoveling…………no less than 10

Number of episodes of 24 watched…………………………so far 18

Number of hours kids watched TV…don’t want to think about it

Number of mental breakdowns………………………I plead the 5th

Out back affter it snowed all night, overnight, at a rate of 2 to 3 inches per hour.

They say it should stop by midnight. Fabulous.

This is Mia realizing she can’t walk without losing her snow boot.

I have a feeling we’ll be doing a lot of this.

And kick our feet up.

Ok, well we did that for a little while, but if you know our family, we can’t sit still for very long.  So we also got in some snow time.  The first snows we got this season were too cold and powdery for much of a snowman, but Wednesday’s snow was perfect even if the snowman only lasted a couple hours before biting the dust snow.

And Patrick taught PJ how to program the Lego robot (who Mia affectionately named Mr. Electric) I put together for work the other night.

Life father, like son.

All-in-all it was a great day with a good balance between laziness and productive-ness.  It’s days like Wednesday that make me think I might enjoy homeschooling if I wasn’t so in love with the classical education our children are getting at their current school.  Then I have days like yesterday where I got to go grocery shopping with only one child and think I’ll just make the most out of the snow days God has given us and send in my re-enrollment forms for next year

Official snowfall: 18 inches (courtesy of the National Weather Service)

********ORIGINAL POST FOLLOWS********

To some, the copious amounts of snow falling in our neck of the woods might be considered inconvenient or annoying.  For us, who had no plans and a lot of catching up to do around the house, it represents fun in the sun snow, hot chocolate, projects, baking, and cuddling up on the sofa watching TV.

The older kids accomplished the TV watching while Ty, Patrick and I slept in.  Then after a lazy breakfast, we hit (figuratively, of course) the white stuff. 

For our younger two, snow play is traditionally followed by hot chocolate with Fluff (PJ has never enjoyed warm beverages of any kind).

Now, Patrick and PJ are working on a project while I finish up the Christmas letters. 

 Thank God (and Mpix) for die cut wallets!

Let it snow…
 Let it snow…
  Let it snow!

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Saturday was Ty’s first snow in America, but not first snow ever. This is him and his foster sister sometime last winter.