Awwww I used to love snow days.  I remember the feeling when my mom would get the call first because she was the school secretary.  This call would be on a land line (like a phone with an actual cord attached to a phone line in the wall!)  Mom had to start the calling tree to all the teachers and then I got to use the phone to call Lisa, my best friend.  It was a glorious feeling!

I still love snow days because I can imagine my kids feeling that same sense of excitement.  However, it also means my normal day is derailed a bit and I won’t get anything done on my list.  That’s a definite drawback.

We got a ton of snow in a short time and as we were heading to the store to get our gifts for the family we adopted, we got the notification.  Within minutes, Drew was already invited to a sleepover and Jake was making a plan for his friends to come over.  There it begins….staying up late, eating junk food, and pulling out the bins of snow clothes.

Party Pizzas.  How in the world can I let my kids eat these things!?  They have to be top on the list of the most horrible processed foods ever made.  My boys LOVE them and so do their friends.  YIKES!

Reece was ditched by her brothers, so she did her own thing and started snow boarding in the back yard.  I love a kid that will just take matters into their own hands and rock it.  I had her bundled to the max but before long, she was shedding clothes and building ramps for herself.  She gave up snowboarding last year but I’m wondering if this might spark an interest again?

Here are a few video clips—I’m doing this from the warmth of my house of course.  It was COLD!

In the meantime, Jake is at the Falcon Valley Golf Course hill – a hot spot for sledders.  When I passed by, they were putting on actual snow skis.  Hmmm….seems like a bad idea but most of them are when you’re a teenage boy.  They had built ramps for all to enjoy and I was driving all around town getting stuck on slick roads from time to time.

Reece’s girl scout troop even got their holiday party in, complete with ornament and cozy sock exchange!  Yay!Drew’s soccer team braved the extreme temps to serve the community being Salvation Army bell ringers!  I love this.We don’t let snow keep us from doing anything apparently.  We also got our Christmas cookies started.  We tried to take a short cut and ended up with Christmas crackers!This must be the season of “fails” because our fudge wasn’t up to our normal standards either and when we tried to go see Santa, his line was too long so we had to mail our letters and leave!  Ugh!

Don’t worry, Santa, we’re still coming!  We’re just trying to find a time that all 6 of us are in the same place at the same time before December 25th.

After Morgan took the ACT and a couple soccer games, we hit the road for Pittsburg.  We spent a wonderful day with my Grammy and family…we were down 2 of course due to basketball games.  Go figure.

We are officially one week away from Christmas day and we are gearing up to celebrate in various ways with friends and family and we are so excited.  The Christmas crackers, the non-creamy fudge, the lost Christmas letters….it will all be ok.  Sometimes the Christmas season isn’t always perfect, but it’s our perfect this year, and we’re still smiling.  Here are a few of our holiday memories so far!