50 shades of snow

since the 13th of february, the number of full days of school the kids have had can be counted on one finger.  one.  (and what a glorious day that was, you february 23rd you!)

i'm just going to let the pictures and videos below provide a timeline of sorts to the wackiest (and most frustrating) two weeks in recent memory.

 tuesday, february 17: an icy snowy mix began to fall, just as predicted.  shortly after the school closing was announced, liam's 4th grade teachers sent out a list of "mandatory" homework assignments.  included was the task of emailing them a snow selfie.  (my favorite part of the photo: our sweet brown pooch airborne in the distance.  wonder LOVES the white stuff)

even on a not-so-steep incline, they could really gather speed.  what's remarkable is how solid it was -- notice how chris's shoes and wonder's paws are all totally on top of the surface.  that early in the morning on the first day, we were lucky that the light dusting of snow on top provided some traction.  it quickly became super slick

i could barely watch them sled most of the time, sure that disaster was mere seconds away.  (in fact, i soon turned into psycho mom and required them to wear bike helmets.)  but i must say there are some impressive acrobatics involved in this clip

sunday, february 22: after a week of record-breaking low temperatures (it's not often we're in the single digits in these parts), the driveway was still an ice rink, and we all had bruised bums to prove it.  OUCH

once the temperatures climbed into the lower 50s that day, after missing the entire week of school, we thought for sure we were in the clear -- especially since nothing else was in the forecast.  (sense the foreshadowing?)

tuesday, february 24: another round of snow hit -- beautiful, light, fluffy snow that no one had any idea was coming.  liam decided to show his best side when he noticed me taking pictures from inside the house.  also of note: among the many -- and i mean MANY -- frustrations of this recent weather, at the top of the list is the garbage fiasco.  they haven't picked up our recycling in almost a month

the kids returned to school for a half-day on wednesday -- hooray! -- and then we got another five inches that night.  this time it was the wet, heavy snow that resulted in our power being out for over twelve hours.  we huddled around the gas fireplace in the family room and used the back porch as our refrigerator.  

 thursday, february 26: introducing our snow girl Sunny.  
wishful thinking in choosing her name,  perhaps?

so we've had Sledding Snow (the first round), Snow Cream Snow (the second round), and Snowball Snow (the third round).  we're heading to wintergreen tomorrow for the fourth round: Skiing Snow. and that better be the final round for 2015 or i might just call the next one Asylum Snow.