Oh, the first snow fall of the winter…

What a joy for a boy to behold!

And since we have neither a house nor a sleigh (or a hill down the road), I’ll stop singing that wonderful song. Plus, it’s still too early for Christmas music anyway. But who DOESN’T hear Karen Carpenter singing that song in their head when the white fluffy flakes start a-floating?

Yesterday, when I opened the door to go down and switch over the laundry, it was suddenly a winter wonderland out there! (resisting more Christmas music with difficulty…) 

Something about snow just makes me giddy. I don’t know why. Maybe it’s because I grew up in snow-starved Tennessee, and my subconscious still associates the white stuff with the freedom of school being cancelled. Maybe it’s because snow is so different than normal precipitation. Or maybe it’s just the peaceful whiteness of it all. Whatever the reason, playing in the snow is SO MUCH FUN!

This is the first year that Jay actually liked the snow, and it’s probably because he finally had the right gear so he didn’t freeze to death while playing in it.* I am rather pleased that I had the foresight to get him a snowsuit at a local church’s rummage sale last summer. That was a 50 cents well spent. Once we were all bundled up, there was just enough nice, wet snow in our “yard” (aka parking space) to scrape together one little snowman.

*Last year’s snowgear:

Plastic bags for boots and socks for mittens were not warm enough. I still love this picture though.

The snowman was a little bit unstable, so we made some shoes to hold him steady. We used rocks for the eyes and buttons, leftover kilt fabric for the scarf, one of my hats for his head, grass for hair, a leaf stem for the mouth, and a baby carrot for his nose.

The residents of #1 were the first (and only) ones out of the 5 apartments in our plex to build a snowman. Go us. I love having a little boy to play with in the snow! Of course I would’ve gone out there even if I didn’t have a little companion, but it was much more fun with him.

Even though it wasn’t a very cold day, how could I deny Jay the joy of hot chocolate after playing in the snow? I heated us each up a half-mug of milk and added a teaspoon or two of cocoa mix. And marshmallows. I think that was Jay’s favorite snack of all time.

When we left on a walk to the store this afternoon, our poor little snowman had turned into a snowcorpse. But he was still on his feet.

When we got home less than an hour later, he was officially dead. I rescued my hat and his little scarf to save for the next snow fall of the winter.