Snow Days and Snow Weeks

We have had a lot of snow this year FOR Kentucky. I know, I know, some of you reading this blog live in far colder climes and may right this moment be snorting contemptuously to yourselves (you know who you are Scott) thinking, "A lot of snow?! Ha! They don't know the meaning of a lot of snow!" Hence, the addition of "FOR Kentucky."

In fact, we've had so much snow and "sub-zero" temperatures thanks to a couple of Arctic Blasts, that school has been cancelled not one day, not two days, but SEVEN days in January alone. After an entire week of cancelled school last week, the kids started praying for there to be school. Yes, you read that correctly . . . The kids actually prayed for school.

Despite all the of cancelled school and subsequent cabin fever, we have been able to enjoy the snow on the few days that it hasn't been too cold to venture outside (by "too cold" I mean anywhere from 19 degrees on down).

Last Saturday we had one such good snow day. We woke up to another 3-4 inches of fresh snow with temperatures in the low 30s. By mid-afternoon it had warmed up to the upper 30s and felt positively balmy.

We walked to the neighborhood grocery store together and then stopped in at the Catholic church's grounds on the way home to have a snowball fight and make snow angels in clean, undisturbed drifts of snow. (Not that the Catholics have any monopoly on the angels.)

It was so good to get outside and take in a little vitamin D. This has been one memorable January, that's for sure.

No respect for the angels, I tell you.

Snow Day Lanterns

Winter vacation felt like it lasted FOREVER!! It was really nice to have the kids home from school for the holidays, and we had some fun times, but honestly, when January 2 rolled around (after the kids had been home for over two weeks), we were all ready to get back to a regular schedule.

My jar, Lutece's two creations (including a rainbow and a rain forest scene complete with a crocodile snapping at a monkey), and Phoenix's more eclectic and vibrant creations.

Alas, it was not meant to be. The kids did go back to school on Thursday, but then on Friday, school was cancelled for snow and ice. We could deal with that . . . kinda (there were some rough moments around here on Friday and lots of bickering), but when we found out on Sunday evening that school was again cancelled on Monday . . . and then again on Tuesday for sub-freezing temperatures, I knew we needed a plan.

 

I drew heavily from my homeschool experience, and with the kids' help, we created an hour-by-hour "schedule" for both days. These schedules included everything from "piano practice" and "work on science projects" to "eat lunch" and "screen time." We took a trip to the library, ran errands, made cookies, played games, and the kids had lots of play time. We even scheduled in "catch-up" time throughout the day so that Phoenix wouldn't freak out when we got off schedule :).

Of course, we also scheduled time for an "art project," which turned out to be highly successful (not always the norm). This was actually an activity that we were supposed to do for our Christmas advent on December 21 but, sadly, never happened. Better late than never.

Since December 21, as of course you already know, was Winter Solstice, I had thought to make artsy lanterns with the kids to light up the shortest day of the year. Since winter is still full upon us, it seemed an appropriate craft for the day.

We covered some old glass jars in Mod Podge (glue, for the uninitiated) and then made mosaics on them with small scraps of crepe paper. I originally thought to use tissue paper, but Lutece didn't love the colors we had, so we used the brightly colored crepe paper I purchased in China but never got around to using. Then we covered the jars in another layer of Mod Podge, et VOILÀ, beautiful lanterns (see picture above).

The kids wanted to use them as table centerpieces at dinner that night, "like at a fancy restaurant" (Lutece's words)*. They made for a lovely ambience, don't you think?

* When, I ask you, was the last time Lutece found herself at a "fancy" restaurant?

Muddy Trails

A couple of days after Christmas, we had some balmy weather here in Kentucky (before the deep freeze set in last weekend), so we decided to head to Raven Run for a winter hike . . . and we took Grandma along with us (much to her chagrin :).

It hadn't snowed for at least four days, so I thought the trails would be fairly dry. Boy was I wrong! It wasn't as bad as we've seen it on past Spring hikes, but the trails were still pretty muddy. We took the meadow trail instead of the forest trail to mitigate the mudfest as much as possible, but Grandma was still sliding all over the place in her slippery running shoes.

Despite the messy trails (and shoes . . . and pants eventually), it was a great day to be outdoors. We made it to the Kentucky River overlook, and we all ended up having a good time. Even Grandma (I think).

Glimpses of Christmas Morning

Not only is Christmas long gone, but Christmas vacation is over . . . OH WAIT! No. It's supposed to be over, but it's NOT! No, no, we are now on our third (THIRD!) snow/sub-freezing-degrees day away from school. The kids went back to school last Thursday, but have been home since then for inclement weather. They have fully enjoyed the extended vacation (3 weeks!). I may be the only one who's ready for them to go back to school. So ready.*

With that said, let us reminisce of better times, when Christmas vacation was still at its peak, and visions of sugar plums had barely left off dancing in their heads.

This was the first year that we let the kids go downstairs by themselves and open stockings and Santa gifts while we I slept in (apparently, Stayc couldn't wait to get up either, since he documented the kids opening their presents.)

At a more reasonable hour (8:00 a.m.), we sat around the living room together and opened family presents.

This seemed to be the year of the Lego in the DuBravac household. The kids loved all of their gifts, but the Legos kept them occupied nearly all of Christmas day. My personal thanks to both Grandma DuBravac and the Lego Corporation.

This was also the first year in a long time (our Christmas in China doesn't count), that I didn't feel overwhelmed by gifts. We have such kind, thoughtful, generous family members, but I was grateful that everyone kept it fairly simple. It was perfect. In fact, I think the kids were more excited to see us open our gifts from them than they were to open their own gifts (ok, maybe that's going too far :).

It was a very Merry Christmas indeed.

* Lutece was reading this blog post over my shoulder and said, "I'm ready to go back to school too." Thank goodness!

Christmas Jammies

Wow! Winter vacation ends tomorrow, the kids go back to school, and finally here are some pictures from Christmas Eve. The kids opened their "traditional" Christmas jammies from Grandma DuBravac on the Eve of Christmas. Yeah for Christmas jammies!

As usual, I also took the "traditional" Christmas Eve Christmas jammie photos.

And per tradition, they were all slightly blurry.

And just a little crazy.

And super silly.

I love tradtion.