McKinstry Moments

The first big snow.

Every year it is the highlight of winter. Typically it comes sometime in November, and a few years ago we've even got a snowy Halloween. This year though, we had to wait all the way until January - late January. It wasn't just a bunch of flurries covering the ground in a thin layer either; this was a snowfall that seemed to be making up for lost time. FEET of powder, shutting down our community for days - the public school system for more than a week.

While most adults stress at the thought of snow with images of shoveling, frozen pipes, hazardous driving conditions, etc., children have long embraced this type of weather. Not only is it so exciting to play in, it also often gets them at least a day or more's break from sitting in a desk at school. Remembering back to when I was a student, I used to wonder sometimes if God just knew when I needed a rest and poured down all that fluff just for me. When I first started homeschooling, I figured one of the benefits would be that we could just work the snow days and wouldn't have to work as late into June as most schools do, but when that blizzard came Friday, January 22, this teacher decided to call it a SNOW DAY too. Instead, the kids romped and played the entire day away and all of us got a nice three day weekend to relax (well, maybe not all of us since Dave had to do a little shoveling).

Typically, we like to wait until the snow stops before the kids go out, which helps keep them from getting so wet. However, they would have had to wait days if we'd gone that route, and we weren't sure they kids would be able to really play in it later on if we got the record breaking accumulations they were predicting. With that in mind, we tried to get them out that first day to stomp around while they could still move through it.

They even tried a little sleigh riding (maybe Reid's first time? I can't remember). While I could see much of their play time on the deck earlier from inside the warmth of the house while Dave went out with them, I hated to miss this part of the day. Sometimes I wish I wasn't so cold natured...

Day 2 - By the second day, the snow was over two feet. Dave could barely walk in it, so we knew the kids weren't going to be able to do much, especially in those bulky snowsuits. Daddy took care of it though, shoveling paths through the snow that had accumulated on the deck so our little ones could still get out there to expel some energy and enjoy the wonderland.

And, did they ever!

Caleb's face got a little cold...but thanks to Aunt Courtney, he had this beard to keep him warm.

One of the most thrilling things about having so much snow was that there was enough to make tunnels. Thanks to a little ingenuity on Daddy's part, things reached a new level of excitement.

Until Big Brother got the bright idea to climb on top of it. Oops...

Good thing Daddy is a good tunnel fixer upper.

Watching just how high those snow piles and drifts grew were about as fun as actually getting outside in it.

Caleb's second floor bedroom window - thanks to snow drifts from another part of the roof

View from the doors in the basement playroom.

Day 3 - Sunday church was canceled, of course, and once again Daddy took the kids out.

Caleb, the tunnel smasher, was warned before he went out not to climb and collapse any part of the snow playground, but in mischievous little boy fashion immediately did exactly what he was told not to as soon as we went out. Sadly he had to be sent back inside to strip all of his snow clothes back off and watch out the window as the other kids played with Mommy. (I may have felt more heartbroken over the consequences then he did.) While upset at first, the lesson was learned and later in the day, when the others were napping, he was permitted to have another chance to play in the tunnels on the deck. This time obeying (for the most part!).

"Can I throw a snowball at you, Mommy?" he asked, so tickled when I actually let him throw some against the windows.

He got to help Dave dig out his car. Hey! Where is the car, anyway?

Day 4 - Monday, though the public schools stayed closed, McKinstry Academy held classes. We'd had enough of a mini vacation from school, and it was no point to waste days that we can enjoy soaking up the sun come June. Dave ended up going back to work too, well not to the office; he worked from home since we were still completely trapped without any hope of shoveling all of that mess.

Though he was home, Dave was still busy most of the day and couldn't take the kids out. Truth be told, we were getting a bit tired of having to get all three kids in all that snow gear too, so Mommy got resourceful thanks to the inspiration from a friends' Facebook page. I filled a plastic tub with snow, gave the kids a couple ice cream scooper, and let them go at it. Caleb wasn't interested, but Hadley and Reid loved it. And, it was all going pretty smoothly until Reid decided that his scoop of snow looked like a ball and decided to practice those snowball throwing skills his daddy had taught him outside the day or before. Thankfully, I was able to open the backdoor and redirect him to throwing them that direction. :)

By that afternoon, Dave was getting a bit antsy from being stuck in the house for so many days and didn't have any more "work from home" work to do. Anxious about missing work, he resolved that we needed to find someone to plow us out. I couldn't find anyone at first, but to our surprise one of our neighbors showed up at our door having already contacted someone to come dig us out. Day 5 - Tuesday they got the job done and were finally free.

Day 6 - Dave wasn't the only one who was ready to get out. While it was nice to have all our plans cancelled for a few days, we were glad come Wednesday to finally head out of the house ourselves. Where to? NaNa's!

Mom told me to bring the kids' snow gear in case they wanted to go sledding and I was glad I did. The weather was absolutely beautiful. Though I didn't bring any extra clothes for myself, it was so warm that, even as cold natured as I am, I was able to stay out and enjoy watching them while taking pics. And, I'm so glad I could. The faces of both the kids and the adults were priceless.

Thankfully, Aunt Courtney dropped by too prepared with coveralls to keep her warm.

Just look at my mom's expressions in these! Too funny!

Go Reid and Aunt Courtney!

Caleb gave up on the sleds after he realized his coat worked just as well when he laid on his belly. This worked out probably for the best since we only had two sleds to begin with and two grown-ups. Hadley and Reid really needed a lot of help just to get up the small hill, so it was good Caleb was a bit more independent.