I guess I'm a bit of a hypocrite in that I object to people saying it's summer when it's really just the first week of June but when it comes to winter, well winter starts when the snow starts. So maybe I'm just picky because I was born on the summer solstice and need that to mean something, and also--being a Colorado native--I know that winter is not like summer. Winter is an experience, and summer is a time. Says I. {I mean, not everyone gets snow and cold in December, but everyone has heat in July right? Shush, Inuits. I wasn't asking you.}

And so here we are, mid November, enjoying winter. Because snow. Also, it's been mostly around 15° this last week. Sometimes as low as 0°, which has had me fretting over our chickens, but our feathered dinosaur friends are more hardy than they look. {I love my chickens.}

So on Sunday I decided to lure my family in the front yard with vintage sleds, and then I forced them to play along with the building of a snowman with the promise that if they completed this task, I might reward them with hot chocolate.

See, I'd thrifted a snowman dressing set from Goodwill last week and I wanted to get my $2.99 worth. What? It was originally from Restoration Hardware and thus probably cost $59.99 {on sale, in January, of course}, and it was still NIB. {That's new-in-box for those of you who aren't hip on the thrift jive.} Snowman in a box! It's a good idea, really. No one wants to waste a perfectly good real carrot on a snowman. There are starving bunnies in this world.

The problem was, well, there are two types of snow, as all Coloradans know. There is snowman building snow, and then there is worthless, good for nothing snow. Powdery fluff that doesn't stick to itself. Because its' so cold even the snow doesn't work.

My beloveds came up with this pathetic excuse for a snowman. Naturally, I had to get involved and work my magic with my creative, artistic hands to help them out a bit. No, no, no, I said. This head is NOT big enough! And with that, I reached out to help with more snow...and I shattered the top two mounds. His head and bust just--POOF!--gone. My husband, my oldest, the baby, and a ginger all looked at me with contempt. Their bellies were grumbling for hot chocolate, and here I'd just killed their snowman.

With that, Winter 2014 was ruined. I decided to go with the bottom mound and dressed the snowman anyway. While I was laughing at the thought of our neighbors driving past and seeing our failed attempt at a snowman, turned snowbutthead, Eisley was crying. {She's sensitive like that. But it escalated and Justin had to take her inside to lay the smack down about pouting over mommy killing their first snowman. Look, I'm just glad I'm not always the bad cop parent.}

The Ginger Child liked it.

Paxton, meanwhile, decided he hates cold weather and had a break in the trunk. One-year-olds, see, don't do well in snowsuits and snow boots. Here they just learned how to walk, and then you up the ante by bundling them up, throwing them out in the cold, and expect them to just roll with it. They can't even use fingered mittens at this age. Life is harsh.

Typical aftermath: boots, coats, and snow pants discarded at the door. {Which, by the way, I thrifted almost all of for $30 this year. The snow gear, that is, our door came with the house.} This was about when I realized that in dragging my family outside in an effort to get them out of the house and having fun, I really just only created more mess for myself inside.

But you know what makes me an awesome mom? I made them hot chocolate using whole milk, that's what. Topped with Campfire marshmallows. Boom. Clap. {I'm so not an awesome mom, in truth.}

I might have ruined their snow man, but I made up for it with giant marshmallows.

Sort of.

I declare Winter 2014 to be alive and well after all.

Welcome, Winter.
You and your warm winter naps.


Cheers,
heather

P.S. I did post the blog about Justin's return to ListenUp {SO. HAPPY.} but I didn't go around advertising it because I actually got sick of all the couples-version navel gazing I'd been doing lately. You can go read that, the previous post, if you like. We've been so busy lately!