January Snow Days

The last few days have been a blur--me not feeling well, school & schedules all askew. We spent the last two days indoors grateful for electricity, warmth, and good shovels. With no school in session (Wednesday as well for Brian) we all got to play a few computer games and relax. Unfortunately it also meant we couldn't get Scot everything he wanted for his birthday dinner. Even though the spaghetti & meatballs with garlic bread dinner will have to wait we still were able to enjoy a homemade birthday cake with excellent frosting (Scot made it himself).
We had him open presents last night since we were unsure of what would be happening today. He was excited with new outdoor scout gear, as was Brian (he's our new 11 year old scout leader). Another highlight was a kit to make balloon animals from Grandma & Grandpa Nielson. How cool is that?
James worked especially hard at making an igloo yesterday after the boys played outside together with their friend. Spending 4 hours (about 3 of them trying to finish up the hole on top) he finally came in. During most of that time the snow had changed to freezing rain and his coat, snowpants, hair were covered in icy snow. Brian got home a little early; he and Scot shoveled the driveway. Then with all of them in you could hear it raining inside and out--the freezing rain lasted mostly through the night as well as the dripping snow gear.
James' igloo held through the night and the additional morning snow so I couldn't figure out why Scot was anxiously pulling James to the window late morning. Apparently the igloo could not withstand the neighbor kids. Brian helped him (with the pretense of shoveling the driveway again) and Scot pile up a huge snowbank that they'll dig out in a few days for an exceptional igloo.
The girls just went on their own business playing where ever, whatever. Today Maggie wrote (dictated, really) a movie, "Barbie and the Apple." She initially wanted to create a PowerPoint movie, as she'd seen Scot do (and as he'd suggested), but I convinced her (with much convincing) that we could create it with live video. I bought myself a whole afternoon as she prepped the play table with a very creative set including her My Little Pony castle and other props. Tomorrow we film...unless of course the script or characters change...again.
Paul's best moment today was taste testing Scot's frosting. Not realizing he was allowed to take the beater from Brian's outstretched hand, Paul began his taste test by softly touching just the very outer layer of the frosting--like he was touching its sheen. This way he could only get a small dot on his short finger, but that didn't stop a complete suck of his entire finger. He did this over and over, not understanding my urges to skip the finger and go for the beater. Not until I showed him how by licking it myself did he take a lick. Then he grabbed the whole beater to get every last lick. Anything that dripped on the chair was promptly found by a sticky finger and sucked down.
So, in all, I think we did alright through the snow and ice. Scot had an enjoyable birthday, and we all got to relax from school and work. I've probably made Brian sick--James, too, not making him wear a hat (I blame a fuzzy mind)--but I think we'll all survive. One more highlight: a tv highlight of my cousin (once removed) from Mt. Pleasant, UT. Eddie, D-Bob's mom is my cousin on my mom's side. Pretty neat clip, check it out while you can:
http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=148&sid=5424142