Winter Comes Back....?

I cannot believe this!!
Yesterday it was a pretty moderate 50 degrees and today--
look at what I woke up to:

Yes, you're seeing correctly, that's snow! And not just a dusting, either!
And right as we were thinking it had finally "sprung" too.I'm not sure whether I like it or not.... 

but at least.. instead of weekend cleaning, we get to do this:

:)

Did anyone else get this surprise?!

(oh, and did I forget to mention that I Slap Floor?;)

-Sarah

♫Oh the Weather Outside is....Beautiful! ♫

Glorious snow! 6 or 7 inches of the beautiful white stuff, and still coming down royally! :) The woods look like Narnia, Licky is having trouble walking through it, and when I look outside I fee like I'm in a snow globe that has just been turned upside down! :) Thank you Lord for this gift! :) ~Rachel

Attention: I think we should all worry about Global Warming... ;)

White Christmases.....there's a whole song written about them....they are the staple of Christmas paintings....but I've never personally seen one. We almost had a white Christmas a few years ago...turned out to be a White-December-26th! :) One year at a Christmas party a few years back, we were talking about snow in the winter in our area (virtually non-existant some years) and one boy quipped: "♫ I'm dreaming of a white Christmas, just like the ones we've never had.... ♫"
But this year there is hope. This will be our third round of snow down here this winter already! Amazing! Today we are expecting 3-6 inches of the glorious white stuff! :) I understand that for farmers snow is bothersome and in the way, but no one, even the Scroogiest Scrooge who lives within the confines of an apartment house can't resist feeling a quickening of the heart when he sees a patch of fresh snow. Whenever I wake up to a world cloaked in white, the first words that flood my heart are: "Although your sins are scarlet, I will make them white as snow..." and, just as God's grace covers my sins, the beautiful snow covers the fallow fields, and the bare trees, and turns the ugliest corner of the yard into a glistening cathedral.
Has it never inspired you with somewhat of a sense of adventure to see a stretch of snow that has never, ever, ever been walked on before? I am still little-girl enough to put on my boots, and tramp over to a patch of pristine snow, pausing at the edge to let the beauty sink in, and then tromping over it, looking over my shoulder and laughing at the big tracks I make.
It's a part of winter that I doubt I'll ever get over! :)
So I am eagerly awaiting the promised snow, the third of the season, wishing for a White Christmas at last, while wondering...
Just why is everyone so worried about global warming? :) ~Rachel

...And The Entreprenureal Spirit Lives On

Yesterday, instead of spending the entire day playing in the snow, Daniel and Sarah found a way to use it for their benefit. During the afternoon they went out to a neighborhood around here with shovels on their shoulders, and cleared people's driveways and walkways for money. It was hard work, but they were each rewarded with a nice chunk of money. Today Daniel and I are going back out, and we'll do more clean up. My only problem is that it froze super hard last night and everything is really crusty and icy! Dad has set a good example of a provider with this storm. As you would expect, winter is a pretty tough time for landscapers. Nothing grows, so no one needs our help! So Dad saw this storm as a good way to make extra money and leverage our income with his Kubota (sp?) tractor. He got 4 of 5 jobs to clear parking lots. (Blockbuster's, a vet place, two churches, etc.) He was pretty excited, but you can pray for several things: first, that the tractor will work correctly, second that Dad will be safe driving on these roads with a huge trailer and tractor behind, and third, that he will stay plenty warm! We are going to make the Wilson's chicken pie for him for dinner! Well, hope you all are staying warm and enjoying the snow! -Rachel
p.s. although I didn't get chance to go out with Daniel last night, I did wake up at 6 this morning and saw the most beautiful full moon shining on the snow. It was SO bright out there! I was half tempted to go right then in the dark and take a walk, but then I realized that 1) nobody knew where I was, 2) I could get hypothermia or something ;) maybe tonight!!!

My Favorite Illustrator

Hey guys! Before you read this, make sure you go on down to Sarah's post below and see all the pictures of our snowy-day fun! Okay, most of you know that I love Tasha Tudor's illustrations. They are so timeless and beautiful! One of my dreams-that-will-never-some-true-since-she-is-deceased is to write a book and have Tasha Tudor illustrate it. But anyway, Mama found a really neat website about their family, and about her home, and it sells a bunch of really neat things, so if you want to learn more about this intriguing lady, click here. Also, here is the recipe for snow-cream. It tastes so good! I just made it with Gracie, and it is so much cheaper to make than icecream!

Snow Cream:

One gallon (16 cups) fresh, clean snow

1 cup heavy cream or sweetened condensed milk

3/4 cup sugar

2 tsp. vanilla

Mix all ingredients and return outside to stay frozen until you eat it! Yum!

Aaahhhhh, SNOW!!!!!!!!!

This is sweet little Gracie in her first snow (or at least that she remembers:)

Here we are enjoying the snow time.

Here are some tracks we found. I wonder what they belong to?;)

What shall I say except that hoped for and delightful word: SNOW!!!!

Yep. That's right! We have 4 inches on the ground right now and it hasn't stopped snowing. We figure it's been getting an inch deeper every hour or so!!! This morning I was awakened by delighted screams of the younger ones as they looked out the windows to see if "the bald weatherman" ;) was right!!! We had set out our snow gear last night and got all bundled up right away. Rachel and I played around as if we were children frolicking and romping in the snow. It's a very dry snow, which isn't that good for snowman and balls, but we still find ways to get each other thoroughly covered in that fluffy white stuff! We had a little trouble finding the newspaper for Grandma June at the end of the driveway. But hey! What can be better than coming into the warm house, shedding your snowy clothes after romping around for 45 minutes, and getting a steamy mug of homemade hot cocoa???!! Well, I should go now, because everybody else is having a snowball fight and I can't miss any of the fun!!! I hope everybody else is having as much fun as we are!!!

-Sarah

I Spy Something White and Fluffy and 12 Inches Deep! (I hope)

Hey guys! You already know the thought first and foremost on our family's mind today! (SNOW!!!!) Yes, finally, us poor Southeastern Virginians will get snow! They are saying the most we've had since 1989! Whoopie-doodle! I will echo Daniel and Abigail's sentiments that I am looking forward to being childish and undignified! I will play with the rest of them and sled with the best of them, and generally act much younger than my 17 years. Snow! Snow! Glorious, fluffy, white, snow! I am quite giddy as you can see! There is really nothing quite as white as snow! Aren't you glad that Jesus makes us as white as the whitest sort of snowfall you've ever seen? I certainly am! "Though your sins are as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow"
When it comes to rare snow, I am not at all a Robert Frost who wants to quietly watch his neighbor's woods fill up with snow with his little pony who thinks he's strange. So, what sort of things do I look forward to in the snow? Let me tell you: Iceskating crazily with the girls on puddles, plunging through and getting muddy, seeing a spot that is totally innocent of footprints, and after thinking about how awful it is to mess it up, purposly plunge my feet into it and make a snow angel, playing fox and geese with a freshly tramped wagon-wheel shape, making a snowman that is round for pity's sake, getting at least one snowball in my face, and having a grand snowball fight with Daniel who always wins, stripping off my wet outdoor accoutrements and tossing them in the drier to dry while I thaw by the woodstove and drink hot cocoa, making ginger cookies that warm you from the inside out with their spicy goodness, cuddling up with a thick old volume of the next three Scarlet Pimpernel books, (pure bliss!) writing a letter in reply to someone elses (if I receive any letters today) guessing what animals make tracks in the snow and where they lead, everyone having extra-rosy cheeks, thinking about how I wish I could be sledding on our old hill, but having lots of fun just the same, watching a movie as a family, and last of all, winkling Daniel into taking a moonlight-snowy walk with me, and enjoying a world transformed by both! (pretty please dearie Daniel? :)
Well, gotta go make lunch, and believe me, I will be on a rampage tomorrow and the weathermen shall know the chill, cruel wrath of Rachel on their little bald heads if they are wrong and the ground is just frozen and bleak tomorrow! I am getting worked up already! I might have to temporarily label them "Provoking toads" if they are wrong! (just kidding! I wouldn't say that to any person.... I might think it for a split second though!) -Rachel

p.s. the picture above is NOT our house:) Just some clip art. -Sarah

We've All Become Popsicles! :)

Shall I describe to you the scene of severe cold in our home? Yesterday Sarah and I were home by our "lonesome" with the little ones while Mama was shopping for birthdays, Christmas, and a party we are catering today. Dad likes to keep the thermostat as low as he can until as late as he can, using the woodstove for heat. The only problem is.... Sarah and I are not about to run a woodstove when there is no adult home. (Another thing I am slightly scared of is a fire :) So there we were, two faithful daughters keeping a lid on the children at home, while our noses and fingers froze. You see, the thermostat was set at 67. We were not wearing exceedingly warm clothes, (our fault) and we were not wearing socks. (our fault again. I always, without fail walk smack through a puddle of water on the kitchen floor or something and so I don't like wearing socks inside.) Rather than become properly attired for an artic expedition like we experienced, we.... well, we just stayed in our regular clothes. Sarah had to stop playing the piano because her fingers were too cold. I had to sit on my bed in a ball to get warm enough to read comfortably. I rejoiced when I had to make 50 biscuits because it meant running the oven. I jumped on every chance to go in the laundry room because the dryer vent has not been cut outside, so it blows warm, albeit wet air into the room and makes it toasty. The one thing that kept us from freezing altogether was the perpetual cups of tea. During the winter we keep up a shocking intake of the liquid. So there you have it. We are lost without our woodstove, and must either freeze or wear layers of clothing. (I eventually put on shoes) And last night, we set the temperature down to 63! Brrrrr!!!!! Okay. Enough about our coldness. I am sure we shall be regaled with tales of the thirty degree temperatures Abigail T. must suffer and the frostbite she got on her nose when her sister kicked the blanket off her. ;) Okay. Sarah wants to write about our first snow.....????
Hello! We got our first "snow" last night while we were at a Christmas party and it started to snow!! It was the wet kind (perfect for snowballs) and a few of us adventurous ones ran out and had a quick snowball fight(more like slush balls- I came in soaking wet from 3 snowballs thrown in my face) so that was really fun. And the bigger surprise was when we got home our house had gotten about an 1/2" on the cars, although everywhere else the rain had melted it away. But still it was our First Snow of this winter and I'm glad that even if we don't have a White Christmas, we got snow before!
That's All For Now, Folks!(from Looney Tunes:)
-Rachel and Sarah