Let it Snow!

It's certainly winter in Chicago. The temperatures are dropping...tomorrow (or today) is expected to reach only 12 degrees.

Another sign that winter is here is the absence of my husband. The snowplowing season arrived with the snow. It somehow seems that the big snowfalls only happen at night and that's the part I don't enjoy. James will usually leave around midnight and return sometime early afternoon the next day, SO my nights seem a little lonely. Even if he leaves when I am asleep, there is something inside me like a tiny little alarm clock that eventually wakes me up.

I spend many nights while he is gone finding myself sleepless. It's not because I am worried or scared but I think it's my brain knowing that I am responsible for 5 little ones solo. It seems almost inevitable that every time he leaves one of them wakes up in the middle of the night for something. I am an extremely sound sleeper so I would rather be wide awake than be startled in the wee hours of the morning, completely disoriented, and try to tend to a child.

What do I do at 2 a.m. ? Well, I get a chance to go through emails, my house gets dusted, the dishwasher gets emptied a little sooner, the towels in the dryer get folded and put away without any extra "help" and sometimes I even get to catch up on some shows I have DVR'd.

The kids are just itching to get out into the snow. It's not the easiest part of my job...getting little ones ready to play in the snow. It takes some time to get on snow pants, gloves, hats, coats and boots. I can work up a pretty good sweat just thinking about it! Then, after a few minutes everyone is cold and we need to come in and take off all the different layers we just put on.

Every year when I think about the process of it I am reminded of the Cosby Show episode with Rudy getting ready to go out in the snow. Just as Cliff (Bill Cosby) gets his daughter in all her snow gear, and not easily, she tells him that she has to go to the bathroom. Story of my life...you can make them go before you do anything but for some reason they always need to go again;)

The snow does make a beautiful sight to see though. When everything is freshly coated it takes away from the leafless trees and dirty streets and makes everything look beautiful. Our first craft of the morning is going to be paper snowflakes. I can't wait to teach them about God's amazing craftsmanship in making each one different, unique & beautiful. I'll post some pictures later of them.