snow day!!!

Camille was the first one up, and was out the door with me...

Snow Day! But it started out that school was delayed for two hours. I wanted more sleep because we all know that when Paul is traveling for work (he's in Boston), Della stays up way too late reading, so morning comes as a shocker. I knew Lydia was coming, I knew Anne was coming, and the driveway had to be shoveled.


Miss Char got up and helped. Jonathan got the snowblower started, and had the rest of the driveway clear in no time.

I don't mind getting up and going out to shovel. It's invigorating, and the doggies love playing in the snow. Sunny thinks every shovelful is something to chase and dive into.



Anyway...I procrastinated the whole getting up out of my nice warm bed thing, checked my phone one more time, and YES, school was now CLOSED! I texted Mali to see when Lydia was coming, and she wasn't, because her daddy had a snow day too. Anne was still supposed to come though, so we had to get up and get moving and clear that driveway. Then, she didn't come. So...I could have stayed in bed. oh well. :(

The three high school girls were getting up as we finished up with the driveway, and the coffee was ready. We turned on the tree lights, cranked up the fake fireplace, and cuddled under blankets, and planned our day. The kids decided to go sledding in the back.



Surprise! Kathryn decided to give Jonathan an early Christmas present! Kathryn had to work today, she was working from home, and busy, but Evelyn, Suzanne, Sonja, Jon, Charlotte Claire, and Camille went sledding. (Joseph works from home too, he's a freelance artist). I got to work on the triple batch of gingerbread cookie dough. We decided that gingerbread houses are over rated, and too much work, so we just made the cookies. After sledding, we had another cozy time in the living room, this time they had Evelyn's homemade hot chocolate, while I had a second cup of coffee. Then, time to frost the cookies!

Dinner went into the oven, chicken and gravy. I peeled potatoes and made mashies, and we had stuffing and veggies, and some cranberry sauce, because it is Abigail's birthday, and she came over after work. Emily came over too, so we had a nice dinner, the eleven of us.

Emily asked me how I like it that my house is such a hub for people coming over. I told her that 99% of the time I love it. I enjoy the kids, and like having company. I wish the house would automatically be always clean though. I get tired of cleaning it. It doesn't stay clean, not with all the peoples still living here, and the doggies and kitties. Evelyn determined today that, "Mom is the biggest slob." And yes, I had to admit, I had left shoes I wore to the Christmas concert next to my chair in the living room since December 2nd. And yes, that was my coffee cup sitting there. And my sweater is draped on the back of the couch, what?! I got hot! I have pairs of glasses everywhere, and leave my slippers wherever I am when my feet get too hot, then look for them later. I have passed these tendencies on to my kids, and somehow we all manage to survive. Today was nice because they all pitched in so much, and got the place neat and tidy in no time flat.

Having people over is a blessing though. When I know company is coming, I do that panic cleaning, the kind of cleaning I'm best at. I don't exactly throw stuff under the couch, but I get it straightened up in double time. It's usually when I do something clever like drop the glass bottle of olive oil out of the cupboard, smash, glass and oil all over the floor. This is a true story, and it happened the other day when we were expecting all kinds of company.

I told Em that the grass is always greener, with us humans. Solitude sounds lovely sometimes, but I don't really crave it. I would appreciate some quiet alone time, but I also am super thankful for having the kid, and friends and older kids and grand kids coming over.

Anyway. The gingerbread cookies: they are too good. Do not make them, and if you do, don't triple the recipe. I ate at least six, if not TEN of them today, all together. What? I can't help that Evelyn brought her mama a steaming hot cup of coffee while we were frosting! "In for a penny, in for a pound", is not a wise saying when consoling oneself about cookie-eating.

But what a grand day we had.

Tomorrow, my three high school girls will be heading back to high school. Anne and Lydia will be coming over, and I think Jonathan and Char are going cross-country skiing with Emily. Shh, Em wouldn't want me to brag, but she is done with school for the term, did excellent on her last final, and has ONE semester left before being qualified to take the Nurse Practitioner exam, or whatever it's called. She's still working full time as a registered nurse, so she's busy...but now that she has a few weeks between school terms, we'll see a little more of her. :)

She is teaching Camille the clarinet, which is adorable. Jonathan is learning trumpet, and Char is plucking the guitar, plinking the piano a little, and trying out the violin. I am not musical, but some of my kids certainly are. Today we burst into some pretty lovely renditions of Christmas songs. Suzanne played, "I'll Be Home For Christmas" (Bing Crosby), and they teased me as I started to get teary-eyed. Aaron won't be home for Christmas, and Samuel won't either.

So after Emily and Abigail left, the dinner was cleaned up and put away, and we had watched, "Psych The Movie", Jonathan, Char, Cam, and I went in the hot tub. 16 degrees out, and a 104 degree hot tub: mmm-hmmm. yup. Very nice. Then the coyotes started howling, and they were too close for comfort, so we hopped out and ran through the snow back into the house. Ev and Char put on boots and put the covers back on, turned it back down. Walking in the snow to get in that thing is crazy, but getting out, dripping and hot, and walking back through the snow is crazy!

All showered and ready for bed...we had a good day.