Snow Much Fun!!

We were so happy to get snow this year!!  Last year it only snowed once, but it barely even covered the grass, so we weren't able to do much with it. This year we've already gotten a decent amount, so we've been able to get in all our fun, snow activities - snow angels, snowman, sledding, eating (clean) snow, etc.  So here are some snapshots of our fun in the snow!

I think I actually took this picture when the kids were done playing and ready to come inside...hence the awkward smiles.  Jenna's face is saying, "Hurry Mom, I'm cold!"

A bowl-full of snow to play with in the bathtub.  I soooo wish we were able to upload videos on here (still haven't figured out why we can't).  We have a hilarious video of the kids (mainly Grant) throwing "snowballs" against the back of the tub.  Each time he threw one, he would crack up laughing!  Jenna enjoyed eating her snow and also dropping it in the water and watching it disappear.

Drew captured this picture of Jenna starting to fall backwards to make her snow angel.

Plop...now what do I do??  :) 

Being pulled around in the sled in the backyard.  Jenna enjoyed this more than Grant.  Obviously neither of them know how to "lean" into the turns, so they took a few gentle tumbles, which Grant did not particularly enjoy.  Also with the heavier weight in the back, and the fact that a very tall Daddy was pulling them, the front of the sled was pulled upward, making Grant a little uneasy.  But Jenna LOVED it!

Going down the slide into a pile of snow at the bottom is SO MUCH FUN!

Throwing snowballs

Love this shot of the snowball airborne.  You can see it to the right of Grant's hat.

Jenna enjoying a snowy snack.

The kids each have small shovels so they can "help" us shovel the driveway and sidewalk.  Really they just shovel some snow and throw it somewhere around them, but at least they feel like they're helping.

Jenna really got into shoveling this year and was doing a decent job of helping for the few minutes that it interested her.  :)

Sledding:
Two winters ago we took Jenna sledding for the first time.  She was 2 years old and Grant was just a baby at 6 months old.  Jenna would sit on Daddy or Paw-Paw's lap and go down the hill with them.  Grant was snuggled in his car seat with a cover over him.  He only stayed out in the cold for a little bit before my mom sat with him in the car.

Jenna remembers that first sledding experience - whether it's from her actual memory or from the pictures she's seen, I don't know, but she has been anxious to go sledding again.  Since we couldn't go last year, she was thrilled to get to go this year and now Grant was able to join us as well for his first sledding experience.

Paw-Paw and Maw-Maw were able to join us again this time.  In fact, all the sleds are theirs.  I believe the wooden one was from my Dad's childhood, the orange sled to the right of the picture was my sister and mine from our childhood, and the blue one my mom picked up at a garage sale this summer.

And a pre-sledding family picture...

Grant helping us pull the sled to the right spot on the levy.

Grant only went down the hill a few times.  He wasn't too sure of it this year, but maybe next year it will be a little more fun for him.  At least he had a smile on his face before they went down the hill.

My dad doing some serious sledding!  ;)

Jenna did a great job sledding and even went down the hill on her own, which actually surprised me.  She wasn't a fan of snow getting in her face, and the zipper on one of her boots broke halfway through, but she was a trooper.  The boot stayed on her foot for the most part, she would just have to readjust it every so often.  I'm glad she enjoyed her time out there!

Done sledding, cold, and ready for some hot chocolate!!

Rosy cheeks and crazy hat hair

Snowman:

Two years ago, my Uncle Keith and Aunt Mary got Jenna a Christmas book written by a local author - The Magic Snowflake by Scott Foster.  It is SUCH  cute story! 

Then last year they got Jenna and Grant the 2nd book in the series, The Magic Sled.  Scott Foster has such a great imagination and is a wonderful storyteller.  I just love these books!  My uncle and aunt informed me that we can submit a picture of a snowman we've created and send it in to the author for possible use in his future books.  I LOVE the idea and was thrilled that we actually got some snow this season.

We got a LOT of snow; however, the snow was not good packing snow and no matter how hard we tried, we weren't able to build a snowman with it.  We tried a few different times, but each time the snow would just crumble in our hands.  Then we had a warm front coming and temps were supposed to get in the lower 60s along with some rain, which meant the end of the snow.  I was sad that we possibly wouldn't be able to to build a snowman this year.  Then one evening around 5pm I went out with the kids (Drew was traveling with work) and discovered that the snow was PERFECT packing snow!!  So I quickly had Jenna help me roll the snow into balls.  I had to remember back to my childhood of how to actually build a snowman.  At first I tried rolling the middle ball and then lifting it onto the bottom ball, but soon realized how incredibly heavy the snow is.  So we started over and made a small ball and then packed the snow around it while it was on the bottom ball.  We quickly put the snowman together and then rushed to dress her and add all the pieces.  The outfit we figured out pretty quickly, but I was stumped over the buttons, mouth, nose, and eyes, so I had to get creative.  The eyes are rolled-up balls of homemade cinnamon playdough; the nose is a milk straw courtesy of "B"; and the mouth and buttons are Whopper candies from last Easter that I found in the bottom of our candy bin.  We finally got the snowman complete and I rushed the kids over so we could snap a picture before the sun was completely down!  Whew!  We barely made it in time.  Jenna loved the outcome of her snow-woman.  Now to come up with a name for her so we can submit the picture to Scott Foster.  Who knows?  Maybe we'll be seeing her in a future publication!  ;)  Either way, it was a lot of fun!

Jenna was thrilled with her snow-woman while Grant was trying to put on a happy face even though he was beyond done playing in the snow.

Such a pretty snow-woman.  Maybe she's more of a snow princess...