Winter, Be Gone!

Are you as sick of winter as I am? Probably. I'm pretty dang sick of it. I'm a native South Texan, and "winter" down there is two months of 40-50 degree weather, then March comes and it's Spring time! Not so in rural Nebraska. Winter is brutal. Even though locals and family members that are native Nebraskans are telling me this was a mild winter, I basically dream about flip flops and fresh fruit in the back yard on a minutely basis. The whimsical novelty of snowfall has worn off, and I'm just over the cold.

Unfortunately, kids and their energy levels don't get that the wind chill is in the negatives. They want to play in the snow, and they want to do it NOW! That means half an hour of bundling up, looking for the one lost glove (they ALWAYS get lost, don't they?!), and making sure everyone wont get frost bite if we go romp in the yard. Half an hour of bundling for about 15 minutes of play. Somehow, that equation wasn't sounding too appealing this morning. I tried to stall them, I really did. We even PAINTED. Do you know how much mess is involved with an almost 4 year-old and almost 2 year-old using tempera paint? I was willing to go the distance to avoid outside play. I know, horrible mom award right here.

Then it hit me. Don't take the kids to the snow--bring the snow to the kids! So I rounded up my biggest tupperware container, and ventured a whopping 4 feet from my front door. I filled that sucker up and brought it in. This was the result.

Those smiles are enough to melt my cold winter-hating heart. Also, note the green tempera paint in Micah's hair. See? I told you we painted!

So today the score is Mom, 1 - Winter, 0.

13 days, 5 hours until Spring. But who's counting?