snow day

today was the first official "snow day" of the season. madelyn's school was cancelled (as well as the public schools). i don't think matt was as excited about it as madelyn and i were. we had around 10 inches by the time he got up for work and it was still coming down. i think the news described is as "shoveling wet cement". it took him close to an hour to shovel our driveway enough to get his car out. we have been putting off buying a snow thrower/blower because we never thought that we would live here this long and matt says that it is good exercise. well that all changed today because matt went out and bought one! i never thought that i would see the day when matt would pay for something that he could do for free (and they are expensive), but he said that he just can't be late to work when his employees aren't and his 'office' isn't ever going to close because of snow.


madelyn and i had gone out to finish the driveway and clear the sidewalks after mason went down for his morning nap to help daddy. and i would say another inch or so fell while we were out there - about 1-1/2 hours. here is madelyn getting started with her "red shovel". she was so excited to get out and couldn't wait for mason to go to sleep so that we could.

since i didn't grow up around snow, i don't really know how to do any of the snow activities but i get to do them for the first time ever with madelyn. today we made snow angels and tried to figure out how to make a snowman. i couldn't figure out how to get it to 'roll' so i just stacked up some blocks of snow that formed during shoveling. madelyn knocked it down before i could get a picture, but it did look like a snowman. we are going to try and make a better one when daddy can help us (that way i can get some video and pictures too).

our next door neighbor, kendall, came over to play with madelyn. she took her sledding in the backyard but madelyn didn't like to be on her own, she wanted kendall to ride with her. it was so sweet of kendall to come over and teach us how to roll a snowman and make better snow angels. plus, she kept madelyn entertained while i shoveled. or as madelyn called it "digging". i would have taken pictures of them, but i always feel funny taking pictures of other kids. it is so sad that there is so much to worry about - poor madelyn is always alone in her pictures because i don't want to upset anyone by posting pictures of their kids or just pointing a camera at other kids seems to get people concerned.

for all the snow, it was actually 'warm' (above freezing) and not too windy this morning. i enjoyed being outside. i had to get the sidewalks cleared so that we wouldn't get a fine. i thought that madelyn's rosy cheeks were so cute! she gets red as easily as i do when hot/cold. doesn't she look like such a chunk in her snowsuit? its just the cheeks - she really is slimming out. neighbors say that she has changed dramatically over the past few weeks (and she outgrew all her shoes in a single week).

mason slept from 9am to 1pm today! it was such a nice break considering both kids were up most of the night - particularly mason. he is such a light sleeper. every little noise seems to wake him up. and it didn't help that madelyn woke up at midnight ready to start the day! she got up again at 1am too, waking up mason both times. i think that some of mason's problem was his teeth cutting and he got two doses of tylenol over the course of the evening.

his tooth is easy to see in person, but doesn't capture very well on camera because of all the shine from the drool. i tried to circle it in the picture. i couldn't decide if it was easier or harder to see with the circle - obviously i went with the circle.
matt and i are praying for a better night tonight and i let madelyn skip her nap today in the hope that she would sleep longer. we will see. at least matt won't have to worry about shoveling in the morning - he can test out his new snow thrower/blower (i don't ever know what to call it). love.