The Best Snow Day EVER

There are good days and then there are AMAZING days. There are those rare occasions that feel like "once in a lifetime" moments and you realize as they are happening that you are never going to forget them. Yesterday was that day. We woke up to a beautiful blanket of white snow and it never once stopped...it even continued snowing until long after we went to sleep. It was a record snowfall; the largest accumulation in one day in DFW history. It was real snow...the kind that is heavy and fluffy and drifts around into huge glittering piles. It is the kind of snow that you dream about as a kid living in Texas, the kind that is in movies but never real life. I got my fair share of the white stuff when I was living up north during my twenties, but we don't see it down here and Colin has definitely never experienced anything like it. In fact, with the way our winters go, there is no telling if and when he will ever see anything like it again. All of this added up to the most perfect of days...simple, dreamy snow falling from the sky for twenty four wonderful hours. No rain, no ice, just snow.

We own very few clothes appropriate for a winter storm, which made for some hysterical memories. Luckily, I own a pair of lined sweatpants that my sister passed down to me probably 6 years ago at least. I fished them out of the back of my closet and have had them on for two days. They did the job of keeping me warm and DRY, which ended up being a blessing with all of the snowballs thrown at me and snow angels I had to make. :-) My duck boots, which are probably 15 years old now, also came out of hiding. Colin's brown boots were perfect for keeping snow out and I piled him into sweatshirts and Jackson's hand-me-down heavy winter coat. The only real issue was gloves. I could only manage to find one black and one red glove (the sad cotton kind with zero waterproofing) in the bottom of my closet and Colin does not even own a pair. For several trips out, Colin wore my mis-matched gloves dangling off his little hands...but he actually found that funny and loved it. Everything kept getting so wet that I quickly just switched to putting his socks on his hands and changing them every few minutes. This also did a good job of keeping his hands warm, although I did end up with a GIANT pile for the dryer last night. Jer made it home from work at about 3:00pm and we all loaded up in the car for an impromptu trip around town to check out the snow and attempt to find better gloves for Colin. You know that you live in Texas when after 3 stores, including Wal-Mart, you can't find a single pair of gloves for sale...in FEBRUARY!. The weather was such a huge blessing. While it snowed ALL day, the temperatures hovered at 33 degrees all day long and kept the roads from icing over too badly. We knew it would dip below freezing last night, but we still had time to run a few errands and see our snow covered town before it got too bad. Although we remain gloveless, we still had the most magical day on record for our little family. Colin spent the whole day either outside or perched at the big window in the kitchen. He was in absolute heaven. He threw snowballs at me endlessly and threw himself into making a giant snowman with me, only to take huge delight in knocking it over when we were done. We made cupcakes together and I made a delicious indian chicken dish for dinner, which was rich and perfect for a snowy night. Even Enzo got in on the fun and romped in the snow with the family, which was a big surprise considering his thin skin and hatred of being cold. :-) The entire day took on an ethereal quality...heavy snow falling in almost white-out conditions outside my window all day long. The neighborhood was silent except for the sounds of children laughing and every single time we would come inside, our tracks would be completely covered so that each time we headed back out, we had a sea of fresh powder in front of us, begging to be jumped in. Colin was pure joy and elation and I got to relive seeing something amazing for the very first time through his eyes. The gift of having children is seeing the world through unguarded eyes and feeling "firsts" all over again. The look on Colin's face out there in the winter wonderland will be etched in my memory forever and I was reminded to thank God for the blessing of my baby all over again. What a perfect day.

I took hundreds of pictures and lots of video...it was hard to even pick a few to save on the blog. I want to frame them all!

Probably the best shot of the day, taken by Jer. Colin was clearly throwing a snowball at me. I love my mis-matched gloves and Colin's sock mittens. :-)

Making snowballs with Daddy!

He loves throwing snowballs more than anything!

I'm coming to get you, Mommy!

Look at that messy face! I am pretty sure that is ketchup from lunch on his cheek. ;-)

The first outing of the morning...look at that smile. Pure joy!

Colin and our snowman. He got knocked down soon afterwards.

Happy snow baby!

It is SO DEEP! Colin loved stomping in it!

These last pictures are from this morning. The snow stopped after midnight last night and we woke up to more than 15 inches in the backyard. I love his contented smile here.

Throwing snow at the fence...he LOVES life today!

The most precious memory of all...my baby simply happy.