Frozen

We remain surrounded by several inches of snow topped by several inches of ice. Everything is so white and eerily quiet- everyone is locked down and we haven't seen a car on the road since Thursday. A few inches of snow and ice isn't much of a big deal up north, but in a city without snow plows or salt trucks, it's pretty much immobilizing. And with temps forecasted to remain in the 20's for the next 3-4 days, I'm not sure when we'll be able to get out!

 

So far in our snowy adventures Landon and Claire have let out many thousand cubic feet of expensively heated air by going out and in and out and in (and out and in) wearing a mixmash of fleece pjs, last year's winter coats, next year's ski gear, and my consignment ski boot finds from last month (so glad I started bargain shopping for next year's ski trip early!), but at least they're going out. Cora and I just wore fleece and stayed inside and snuggled all day. JP and Landon walked to our local grocery store for a few staples. It's only a little over a half mile away, but oh their cheeks were bright pink by the time they got back! JP also strung up the Christmas lights, coming inside every 30 minutes or so to warm up, while the kids pretended to be penguins in the driveway.

 

I made this "Ultimate Party Mix" on Friday, which was a huge mistake, because as it turns out, sitting around the whole all day in old fleece swim gear makes you REALLY hungry. I was only 5 lbs. off my pre-baby weight before the snowpocalypse, but I think I've now taken several steps in the wrong direction. Because do you know what else goes great with ice days? Red wine. Lots of it.

 

I've ordered my Christmas cards, but they aren't here yet, so I can't spend my time productively working on them. I'd come up with my idea for homemade teacher gifts, but half the required ingredients are still on their shelves at Target. We need to decorate our Christmas tree, but we have to leave the house to buy it first. And I'd already wrapped all my presents, finished the kids' photo books, packed up my maternity clothes, and organized my closet, so there's literally nothing I can do except re-read all the books on my kindle and snuggle Cora.

Done.

The kids have been pretty good. We did ground them from each other for a little while yesterday because of a whining/crying/tattling triumvirate of bad sibling behavior. Separating them from each other is basically the worst thing we can do because Landon desperately hates being alone and Claire desperately needs someone to boss around.

 

While it's been fun being all cozy and making hot chocolate and taking on and off ski boots and mittens every 10 minutes (actually, it has been fun), I am deeply DEEPLY concerned that schools will still be closed tomorrow. Landon needs school and more social interaction than we can provide, and Cora and I need to spend at least five hours a day watching HGTV and old West Wing episodes. Having the big kids around is really interfering with our bonding.

 

After not turning on the TV for the kids all day yesterday (due to a poorly chosen "no TV today" initial response to their infighting; clearly we're rookies at this "snowed in parenting" thing), they're currently on hour 3 of cartoons and Christmas movies. As soon as Cora wakes up from the nap she's taking on my chest while I type, everyone will get lunch, the kids will be kicked outside to test the thickness of the ice and play penguins again, and then we'll replay all the board games we played yesterday and pray we can back a car out of the driveway tomorrow!