"She's not cold"

I sent the girls out to play yesterday, it had warmed up to about 50 degrees, though there are still snow piles everywhere.

When I went to check on them, I found a unclothed doll sitting on top of a mound of snow. 
"What's she doing up there?" I asked.

"It's okay mama, she's not cold," Lanie assured me.

Birthday Girl

First of the children's birthdays for 2019 and all the drama and emotion to go with it.  Vivian turned 6 on Monday and we had her birthday party on Sunday.  Unexpectedly, we had a snow day on Monday when it snowed 15 inches overnight.

Modeling her new outfit and backpack.

Playing in the snow with Lanie, one of the few things that could be shared this weekend.

Braided hair for dressing up for her birthday dinner.

Jack deciding to join us for family birthday dinner.  Luckily I now know better than to put food on the table until it's time to eat.

Losing a Tooth

Vivian lost her first tooth, quite literally.  It had been hanging on by a thread but she wanted to wiggle it out or wait until it fell out by itself.  She had a friend over yesterday, and as I was upstairs trying to get Lanie dressed (we went no where on the day that didn't get warmer than 7 degrees), I heard Vivian yell from downstairs, "it's gone! It's gone! My tooth is gone! Where did it go?"  

I left Lanie to struggle into her shirt (she likes to do everything "myself" lately, so her getting dressed is a long and tedious process), and went to investigate.  

Sure enough it was gone and no where to be found. We backtracked for a minute, but then Lanie inevitably got stuck in her shirt and started yelling, and the doorbell rang and Vivian's friend's dad and sister arrived to pick her up.  Naturally Jack then got super excited and started to bark and run in circles jumping on everyone.  

After about five minutes of complete chaos, Jack calmed, Lanie continued to yell, no tooth was located in the immediate vicinity, we finally got all of Vivian's friend's snow gear on her from various drying locations.  Then everyone had to look in Lanie's mouth at her "loose bloody tooth," which she has to have to be like Vivian.  Finally the friend left and Sam and Vivian embarked on a half hour hunt for the tooth around the house.  At this point I'd concluded that she most likely swallowed it with her snack or lost it outside in the snow, but it seemed like a good quiet activity to keep them busy.

Lanie's matching photo of her "missing tooth."

Note to the tooth fairy that Sam helped her write.

The house was later canvassed in sticky notes about the missing tooth, just in case anyone came across it I guess?

First snow

The first snow the kids can play in this year, which is really not anything to speak of, except that we haven't had snow to play in.   Meanwhile, I thought it was adorable when Sam was telling Jack, "boy, your first snow storm is coming! Are you excited?" and we told Sam that we think Jack saw snow last year.  However, after Jack's reaction, he may not have.  He was more hyper than the kids and has been whining to go out all day.  As soon as he comes in he's ready to go back out.

It's really wet and heavy now after raining all day, but they want to be out anyway.

Heading to get donuts.

Casualty of a plow.

Playing King of the Mountain.

Sam's Snowball

About a week ago we had a quick overnight snowfall, about 4 inches or so (after a 60 degree day!).  We took a walk around the block and about halfway around Sam decided to start rolling a snowball which quickly gained momentum.  The snowball got bigger and bigger as he tried to push it home so that it could be the base for a snowman.  However it got too big to move.  I was charged with watching it while he ran home to get a sled to pull it home on.  It didn't fit on the sled and we couldn't push it uphill to get it home after a while.

This is him before we irresponsibly abandoned it on the side of the rode towards the end of our street.  He did take a chunk of it home and put it in a zip lock bag to keep.  I assumed it went in the freezer, but I later found the bag of water in his room.  He claims he's not throwing it away. 

The Cold and the Blizzard

 Too cold to be outside with temperatures below zero with wind chill.  Even the kids don't want to be out for long.  It's been a lot of indoor time and trying to keep the house and kids warm.  Looking forward to temperatures in the 30s this week.

What a Difference

Finally outside and playing again.  We've hung out after school at the playground just about every afternoon this week, reluctant to leave now that the sun is finally shining again.  However, although the snow is finally melting, it feels like fall.  There are leaves everywhere and not much is in bloom.

This was two months ago, when I thought I'd never see the last of the snow.
February 16 snow



And driving to get Sam today I spotted this huge mound of snow (under the grit) at Fresh Pond Plaza in Cambridge.  Just lovely to think about all the nasty crap in the air that ends up coating the snow.

Warming Up

Hope this trend will continue!  It's hit above freezing for the last few days and there is some melting.  In some areas you can't tell at all, but the snow mounds are slowly shrinking. 

The kids are loving being outside in the "warmer" temperatures. 

I'll find the highest point possible and balance precariously.

Playdate with one of Sam's friends.  The snow in the backyard is still feet deep as it also is the accumulation of snow from the deck and driveway.

Cloudless Sky

Despite the high of 23 degrees today, the sky was a beautiful blue, not a cloud in sight.  I noticed the sun (can't find my sunglasses anywhere and the glare off of the white snow is truly blinding), but not the lack of clouds, until Sam asked where they were.

"Well I guess they're higher up or just not around today." I answered.

He just learned about the water cycle, so apparently this was not a good enough answer.

"So they're gone?  You mean there's no more water in the sky?"

"Well, um.. no, there's water, it's just not in the form of clouds." (I did teach the water cycle once upon a time, I should have a better answer than that).

"Oh, mom, I know!  All the clouds are gone because they got all snowed out.  All the water is on the ground!  There won't be clouds until the snow is melted!"

Better answer than I had… 

More Snow Photos

Firefighters digging out the hydrant across the street (proactively).  Had I known it was there I would have done it a long time ago!

Mountain of snow in Cambridge at MIT.  It's the size of a small building, scale is not apparent in the photo.

Sometimes it's impossible to tell whether there is a car under the snow.  Apparently there is one in this snowbank.

My neighbor's pickup truck that hasn't been dug out in over a month.

A woman attempting to melt her ice dam with a clothes steamer.  Worth a try?

The kids in front of a snow fort outside an Arlington cafe. 

The Next Snowstorm 2015

I've lost track of the names of these storms.  They are a weekly occurrence at this point.  

It's a very bizarre cycle and seemingly never ending.  At least we hope spring is at the other end! 

This was the sidewalk walking home from dinner on
Saturday night, Valentine's Day.

This was the same sidewalk the next morning, 

looking in the opposite direction.  

That dip between the drifts was where I had previously shoveled a walkway.

The sunset driving home,  just before a commuter skied
by the passenger 

side window of my SUV 

and his skis were at the height of the window.  

The kids were aghast in the backseat.

The police blocking Broadway in Somerville, while trucks
remove the snow  banks.  It's a pretty common sight and takes
a long time to get anywhere.

A local bagel store.

My parents' house, the lamppost out front.

Snow Day #6

The house today after finishing shoveling the last snow that fell overnight.

Parking meters in Watertown.  Sam and I stopped for breakfast after dropping Vivian off at daycare.

Sam on top of the snow that is in the backyard, his "sledding" hill.

Below are photos from Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge.  No filters on these, this was the color of the sky this morning.