snow

it's snowing here! it's been snowing since late afternoon. the snow is sticking to the ground and likely to stay stuck as nightfall approaches. i really enjoy watching the snowfall, playing in it and the deeper the better if i have nowhere to be. although, it is supposed to be sunny tomorrow morning so that may melt it all.

we have been reading a lot of books about snow over the past few months. perhaps, b/c we lived in constant summer from june to october last year, i wanted e to know about winter! when she was three months old, we had a glorious time at canaan valley ski resort (it's really a state park that hasn't been rehabbed since 1974 or something) in a cabin with 10 friends. she and i took our first hike together, all bundled up in a fleece sling while hubs went snowboarding. the snowfall there was beautiful with full, lush flakes falling all day.

good ole canaan valley!
hanging with dad while mom is ice skating.
that fleece sling i was telling you about. it's an adjustable cozy carrier that i got for $10 from the trading post on MDC. we shared it for months with our nov babe.
lil ez learning to play "apples to apples", a hilariously fun night we all had riding rosa, dancing in molasses cages and drinking rum and rootbeer (except for me, as i hadn't introduced alcohol back into the body, at that point. didn't think ez needed white russians, just yet.). or, some ended up with just rum and rum by the end of the night.
the secret to avoiding tears while cutting onions is to wear ski goggles, of course.
this guy is one of e's first crushes. he went on to marry one of the coolest chicks around, leaving e to mourn and cry through the night. she is recovered now and close to the couple, i am proud to say. very mature of her.

at least 90% of our books come from the thrift store as that is where they are most affordable. and, some real treasures show up there! cool books like, "we were tired of living in a house" by Liesel Skorpen, which has a new 1999 edition. but, we scored the old skool version with fabulous illustrations. thus, we don't have all the classics, yet of course. in almost every trip we do come across one for .25 that i could have splurged $6.95 on to support the big book box and it's worth it to build slowly. being 2 years old, i figure we have a while to build up her library stash. we supplement with a weekly library trip for story time and a few books.

These are the beloved snowy books on our current reading list:
the snowy day by ezra jack keats (ezra and jack are two of her favorite and familiar names!)
snow, a dr. seuss book by p.d. eastman
snow, forgot who wrote it but it's told by bunnies
the first snowfall, by anne and harlow rockwell
winter friends, by carl sams and jean stoik

She pretty much could tell these books to me as she knows them by heart at this point. it kinda freaked us out the first time she was "reading along" with us. but, now, we pause through most books to let her finish the sentence. if we get distracted while reading or talk to someone else while reading, she helps us get back on track by pointing to the book page and saying, "talk to this".

A couple books contain long playtime in the snow followed by making hot cocoa. Thus, when we tell her, "it's snowing!" all day long, like we did today, her response is, "i need to make hot cocoa!" as soon we go out for a long romp in the white stuff, we will certainly counter with some dark chocolate cocoa full of warm soy milky goodness!