Yesterday I had one of the best days I've ever had.
I'm going to back up to Saturday to paint the picture:
Knowing that snow was coming, James and I took the kids to Five Below for some time occupying toys (knock off Lego's, coloring books, etc) and new sleds, then headed to the library for books.
On the way to the library Ryan mentioned needing to put ice in the toilet and a white crayon in the freezer to ensure the snow would come (is that a superstition everywhere? It was new to me last year). Hannah took this in with pure delight and, as soon as we walked in the door, she ran to the freezer to grab ice cubes to put into the toilet (come to think of it, the crayon never made it to the freezer).
She threw the ice into the toilet with the certainty that, because of her actions, snow was coming. Late afternoon it did start snowing and the moment Hannah saw it she yelled "It's snowing, we can go sledding now!"
Hating to dampen her enthusiasm we had to explain that there needed to be enough snow to cover the grass and that wouldn't be until she woke up in the morning. She was disappointed but, undeterred. She ran to the freezer to put more ice in the toilet. I tried to explain it had already worked, that the snow was falling but, this was her attempt to make it snow faster.
We did manage to get her to bed that night with promise that it would definitely be a winter wonderland when she woke up.
Sunday morning Hannah woke up and ran to our bedroom, looked out the window and yelled "There's enough snow! There's enough snow!" Then ran to the bathroom where James was shaving and yelled "Daddy, there's enough snow!".
James tried to catch her before she ran into Ryan's room to deliver the news saying "Hannah, let Ryan sleep!" but, nope. "RyRy, there's enough snow!".
Promising them tons of sledding fun was coming but, only after they cleaned their room (okay, James and cleaned their rooms while they pretended to be a tiny bit helpful) we bundled them up and took them outside at 9:43AM. I know the exact time because I sent our next door neighbor a text saying, "We're already out" as we had made plans to take our kids out together at some point during the day.
Hannah and Ryan climbed the hill by our house and rode those sleds down with all the joy you would imagine of first time sledders. It took Hannah a while to get the hang of it (she kept falling off before she got to the bottom of the hill) but, soon mastered it.
My wonderful next door neighbor, her sweet daughter and their gorgeous new puppy joined us a short while later.
My heart was full. The kids were having a great time sledding and the puppy added to the adorable picture by chasing the kids up and down the hill.
I would be remiss if I didn't mention that while we watched the kids sled, James was working hard on digging my car out from under the snow (thanks babe!).
After a while, faces were red & cold so, we headed inside to warm up.
Ryan in his room and Hannah in hers, began the process of dismantling their just tidied bedrooms (because of course they did). I watched on the monitor as Hannah sat on the floor in her room reading books then playing with princess toys. Ryan playing with the mountain of Lego's in his room (seriously people, please tell me how you store/display all the Lego creations your child makes. Star Wars Lego sets are taking over his room!).
Lovely neighbor I mentioned before stopped by later in the morning to drop off cookies she made for us (she took pity on me because I had previously tried to make this cookie recipe and failed most spectacularly).
I don't even like football but, football was on the TV and somehow, it felt perfect. Like, this is exactly how a snowy day is somehow supposed to be like.
Later in the afternoon the kids asked to go back out before dinner so, we bundled them back up again and headed back to the hill*.
This time some of Ryan's friends were already out sledding and he had a great time being silly in the snow with the boys. Hannah did a good job of trying to keep up with the big boys and, she held her own.
The two boys had to head home but just a few minutes later, his best friend Jack showed up to sled on our hill not even knowing we were out there. Ryan was ecstatic! I have to admit I was getting cold and Jack showing up with his dad meant that we'd be outside for a lot longer but, it was so much fun that it didn't even matter. What's another hour?
Overall, it was such a satisfying day of fun & relaxation, surrounded by a beautiful snow landscape out the window. You can't help but to feel content.
Chaos will return. Tantrums will return. Homework and office work will return and all the stress that comes with it will return. But, I'll have memories of this near perfect day to see me through the hard days for a long, long time.
*Gearing kids up and then back down with snow suits/boots/hats/gloves is hard work! Which reminds me, I need to thank lovely neighbor for not only delivering cookies, but also digging out her daughters old snow gloves for Hannah. They were the perfect fit, thankfully.
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