Snowy, Snowy Day

Four years ago, we had a snow storm on Valentine's Day. I remember this because my maternity leave was to start February 15th (my due date), but it started two days early because we had no school on the 13th and 14th. It left me feeling weirdly discombobulated, because I'd planned on packing up room on the 14th. Although my maternity leave sub was set to go at a moment's notice, I still had some things I wanted to put away before she came.
I remember fielding call after call from people who were concerned about what would happen if I went into labor during the worst of the storm. Shane's mom called and said we'd need to call an ambulance. I joked that I would happily deliver the baby myself in a snow bank. She was horrified. Of course, Luke didn't come until the 20th (and of course, NO ONE was worried about me not making it to the hospital in July), so what happened instead was that Shane and I had two days of nothing. We played Yahtzee and Uno and he made chili cheese dogs for dinner. It was the last two wide open, responsibility-free days we'd ever spend with just the two of us. It was awesome. Also awesome was the knowledge that since I was on maternity leave, I would not be making up those two snow days in June.

Today it's been a little louder and I have to make up this snow day, but it's still been so much fun. Last I night I brought in bowls of clean snow and we boiled maple syrup to make maple candy, just like Laura Ingalls Wilder. Today, Luke and I ate popcorn and watched three episodes of Duck Tales. We had Lucky Charms for breakfast and for dinner, we're plannng make your own English muffin pizzas. As soon as the snow dies down a little bit, we're going to bundle the boys up and head outside.
Last night I measured the snow in the way that you might expect an English teacher to measure; that is to say, not very scientifically. I put a 1.75L bottle on the deck and snapped pictures every hour, from 3pm to 8pm as the bottle slowly disappeared. By 5 this morning, it was gone completely, buried somewhere under that gigantic drift.


As for the dog, well, he measures snow days by how comfortably he can rest after plowing through drifts taller than he is. I think he'd give today an A+.