January

Dear 2012,

Way to start the new year off in grand style.

First there were the rounds of stomach flu and colds that circled back around for seconds. Then there was the stake boundary change that jumbled everything and landed Ben and I in a new ward with two new callings and a serious shift in our plans. Add to that twice weekly basketball practices for Cam, Wednesday night Young Women activities and evening workouts just to flip our family dynamic on its head.

But in the middle of all that, there were a few days of snow … days to settle into the house and enjoy doing nothing … days to make hot chocolate and curl up in blankets and surrender to the wonderful notion of doing whatever the heck we wanted to. And ya know the best thing about snow days is? It’s the way they have a way of sparking spontaneous magic when you least expect it.

And that’s just what happened the other day when Dylan was home and the other kids were still off track … and lunch had wound down and the snow had stopped falling … and six kids asked to go outside and play … and a flurry of gloves and hats and coats and boots came out of closets and off hooks … and 12 little feet went stomping down the back steps out into the back yard to play.

Smart Girl elected to stay inside where it was warm.  And so I cleared the lunch mess … and swept the floor … and got dishes washed … and then caught something out of the corner of my eye out the back door.

What in the world …

… and when I looked closer and saw Cam and Dylan making the two biggest snow balls I’ve ever seen … and I could hear the giggling and excited shouts from TDHD …

… and it took me all of two seconds to drag my swinging-from-the-ugly-tree-no makeup-stay-in-sweats-all-day-cuz-its-a-snow-day self outside to join the party.

And holy cow, what a party.

Cam, Dylan, Ash and Kade where happily rolling massive snowballs so heavy they could barely move.

Kade insisted that it wasn’t even the least-est bit cold …

… while Ash and the red nose and checks to prove otherwise.

And for the next two hours, they rolled and pushed and shoved and grunted their massive snowballs around the yard.

And stopped for a minute to pose on their winter trophies and glory in the magic of a snow day.

Sean and Savannah pulled out all the stops on their bit of snow day awesomeness, too. They happily laughed and played along the back fence as they rocked two of the cutest micro snowmen ever.

And there’s nothing like fighting back tears in the really, really cold sunlight as you furiously snap pictures and then stop and just watch in wonder … and drink in the moment …  and remind yourself that this is the highest and greatest thing in life.

Being here. With them. Today. Doing this.

And to add a little cherry on the top of the awesome snow cupcake of a day, my TDHD were at their absolute best – smiling and laughing, working together and thoroughly enjoying playing together as a family.

And whether is was going big or sculpting little …

… patting a baby snow head or climbing up a giant snow tummy …

… they were so, so happy.

And I so, so needed that reminder.

It’s not about what we don’t have or can’t afford. We have our family and a snow day and it is enough.

Pretty soon Kade conceded that yes, maybe it was actually cold without a coat and headed inside. And over the next hour Savannah, Ash and finally Sean made their way inside, too.

He burst into the kitchen with a gift that he said I could keep forever. Thanks, dude.

Turns out Savannah had smuggled in a micro snowman, too … and hid it in her closet so she could keep it forever … and was none too happy with Mom for making her take it back out side.

Kade asked if we could make cookies which seemed like the perfect end to a snow day. So out came the gimp mixer with it’s busted left beater attachment …

… and the youngest four took turns mixing flour, sugar and fistfuls of chocolate chips in our $2 Walmart Halloween bowl.

Savannah called for the older boys to come in and have cookies several times, but they were too busy.

Turns out those giant-too-heavy-to-stack-into-an-actual-snowman-snowballs make awesome forts … and an icy cold, rock hard basketball makes a mean cannon ball.

Game on.

It wasn’t until the sun started to slip below the horizon … and Ashy helped Mom clean up and get the last tray of cookies into the oven …

… that the boys finally made it inside.

And cold bodies curled back up under those blankets on the couch … and ate chocolate chip cookies and watched movies until Dad came home ... and quickly fell asleep as wet mittens and coats dried on the mitten tree.

Dear 2012,

Way to start off the year in grand style.