A day in the snow

With the exception of the captioning on the first picture, I asked Matt to do the captions for the following pictures, since he was with the kids while they were outside. (I was working, otherwise I would have been out there with them). Enjoy!

Little Red's hair is getting long and curly. :)

This was the thankfully happy, (for Bria), result of nearly 15 minutes of effort trying to get boots and mittens on an 18-month old. Whoever designed these boots and mittens takes great pleasure in the suffering of others. With regard to getting her little hands into the mittens, the "easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle" comes to mind....There seemed to be plenty of space in the mitten part, but I can't validate that because I don't know that I was ever totally successful in getting her little hands through the opening. Not that an 18-month old is a really big help.

Bria's first snowball. Picture had to be taken quickly, as she was unable to properly hold the snowball thanks to the afformentioned evil mittens.

"Daddy, I don't think they're on right..."

While Bria couldn't have been happier being out in the snow, Tyler chose to excerise his right to protest his discontentment with the situation, and spent the first 20 minutes screaming to go inside at the front door. I admired his persistance and ability to maintain a certain noise level, (a quality that should make for fun teenage years,) but thankfully the neighbors didn't come to ask me why I was tormenting my child.

This is what's left of the "snow mountain" that resulted from a LOT of driveway shoveling the past few weeks. Bria conquered it and even stayed up there for like 10 seconds.

Admiring the afforementioned evil boots that match the afforementioned evil mittens. The boots were a little more functional, but I don't think I ever actually managed to get her feet all the way in. She was able to move around fine, though some adjustments had to be made on a few occasions. I would like to formally apologize to the poor lady driving down the street who slowed down as my adorable daughter waved at her from the driveway, then slowed down VERY quickly and appeared to have a mild panic attack when she saw that my daughter had the appearance of tragically and painfully broken feet. (Bria was standing up straight with the bottom of her boots at a 90 degree angle from her legs.) Like I said, we never got the boots all the way on, so adjustments had to be made periodically.)

Starting to warm up....At least I got him off the porch, but he still wasn't happy about it. I might also mention that before you unfairly judge me for his lack of hand coverage, I did attempt to put his not-quite-so-evil-as-Bria's-mittens-but-still-ridiculous-to-put-on mittens on him, however, they quickly found their way back into my pocket following the ensuing "I can't use my hands with this horrible things" meltdown. Funny thing, is that the fact that he was unable to push the button that makes this little battery-powered midget ATV go was what started the above meltdown, but once I took the mittens off, he still didn't push the button to go anywhere. (Not that he could, he's knees are practically dragging on the driveway.) Quick tangent, I won't complain about the bargain we got this little ATV for ($1.00 and $14 bucks for the battery charger,) and I guess I don't know what the age recommendations are, but just as Tyler's finally figuring out how to push and hold the button properly and steer it, (meaning to actually avoid the first obstruction to go a little farther and hit the next obstruction.), he outgrows the thing and his knees drag on the driveway. Now we get to pass it on to Bria, so she can figure out the button, only to forget how to let go of the button in terror as she runs into her first obstruction. It's really kind of amusing, and at least it's not a long fall to the ground. It's like a passing of the torch, or in the eyes of an 18-month old, the tiny death machine.)

Yes, I did check for any, let's say, colors other than white before allowing my daughter to eat snow.

Getting down there was pretty easy, getting back up, not so much. I think she did this at least 6 times. Thankfully we don't have a flag pole in our yard for her to get her tongue stuck to. I'm so proud.

And a ray of sunshine finally pierces the clouds!!! At this point, fun was had by all. Looking for a snowman picture? Maybe next year. We're still in the "Destroy and Conquer" phase with regard to any tower-like object. If it can be knocked down, it will. If it can't be knocked down, we'll try harder.

After a series of failed mitten attempts, Tyler tearfully, (meltdown #3, this one was very short and probably warranted given the number of times he'd fallen in the snow while running back and forth,) educated me to the existance of a mysterious "green bag" that contained the holy grail-like "red mittens". "Red mittens" apparently means these yellow gloves, that were in the bag, and that miraculously fit on his hands.... Not to mention looking GREAT with the blue coat, KU pants, (which go with everything,) and orange boots. If anyone asks, he dressed himself. (The green bag also contained purple mittens that I used to replace the evil purple mittens Bria was trying to wear. I think it worked better, but then again, Bria didn't really do a whole lot besides bending over to eat the snow and waving madly at it, so maybe it was just a moral victory for me.

In order to get this "action" shot, I had to briefly ignore his desperate pleas for help....I think he'll forgive me, but then again, that snow was pretty cold to sit on....