January 16, 2018

(click here for today's pictures)

• I just love a Snow Day. When we went to bed last night, it was snowing tiny little flakes but a lot of them. We had already found out that Whitman's school was cancelled but when Robby stirred around 1, he pulled out his phone to check the weather and check other school closings. I think he secretly loves Snow Days as much as I do but he just can't admit it to himself. 
• Whitman's school was going to be cancelled if Bryant schools were out and our Wednesday Bible study would be cancelled if Little Rock was cancelled on Tuesday. I had explained all of that to the kids last night and had to explain it a few more times this morning. Basically it all boiled down to since we wouldn't have Bible study on Wednesday, then today was a Snow Day and Wednesday would be our make up school day. Everyone took that news really well this morning, but the same people weren't too thrilled about it tonight when they realized that tomorrow would be a school day.
• I had also very clearly explained that no one would be going outside for any reason until 10 this morning. Thankfully, everyone did understand that and we were able to sleep in until 7:07. Ha! That is when Whitman joined us because I am sure that his brothers woke him up with their excitement about the snow.
• Soon Campbell and then Keaton came into our room. At some point before we left the bed, Anderson and Graham joined us. Reagan is the only one who didn't come in our bed this morning, and that was because she was busy sleeping. She even missed our muffins that we baked for breakfast.
• I think that I was the first one completely ready at 10. Well, not completely ready because I sure didn't have on my coat since I still had to make sure everyone else had gloves, jackets zipped and hats on their heads. Whitman was so excited about the Snow Day, but he could not understand why I was putting 2 pairs of pants on him and 2 pairs of socks. This just confused the mess out him.
• The neighbors were coming out just as we did. It was cold out there but no one really seemed to care. Last year Keaton did play out in the snow but the year before she was just plain miserable. She had already convinced herself that she wasn't going to stay out too long, but did stay out as long as the others.
• Robby and I were out for about an hour with our kids and the neighbors. We all walked to the "big hill." The kids were able to sled down it-not as well as last year but everyone still had lots of fun. Robby and I convinced Whitman to come in with us and by the time we walked home, Whitman was more than ready to come in.
• He made some "cracker Mickey cookies" while I made some icing and crackers for the kids playing outside. From then until about 5 all of the kids bounced from our house to the neighbors house. I made hot chocolate and lemonade at one point and I know that they also had hot chocolate and kool aid down the road. Around 3, everyone walked through and had a sandwich-glad we bought that bread yesterday.
• The kids came in and started on showers and chores. Graham helped Robby make chili for supper. It was the perfect fit for this cold winter day. We ended up driving down to the Wilson's house for a game of Ticket to Ride (actually 2 games since there were so many of us) and some blueberry cobbler and apple crisp. The apple crisp was my favorite but Robby liked the blueberry cobbler the best. 
• We stayed out until 10 and then headed home. There is a short patch of ice on our street and a pretty good stretch of Lawson that must be in the shade because it was solid ice. We took Robby's car since it has 4 wheel drive even though that meant that Reagan and Keaton had to double buckle. I also made sure that everyone had good shoes and coats...just in case. But we made it there and home safely. 
• Once home, it was bedtime but first we had a long reminder that tomorrow was a school day, and not just a school day but a school day with an excellent attitude.