Happy snow day!

What a glorious day! For three years we've been waiting. And not even patiently. I hate the cold. Being cold stinks. If it is going to be cold we should at least get some snow out of it right? Well, today we cashed in. A little bit at least. This was no Rochester snow dump or Minnesota blizzard but around these parts we call 8 inches impressive. (Yes Trillian and Orange, I left that in there for you guys.) School closed for JAM, and work even closed for me (not that I was going in anyway) so we were all cleared for a day of outside family fun.

The start of the day, all nicely undisturbed - I love that. It was even still snowing when these were taken. It didn't stop until about 9:30 or so.

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After breakfast we all suited up and went outside to shovel out. Seriously, it didn't take that long, it was the light and fluffy type snow so no back breaking labor needed. This was Red's and Pudge's first real snow so we were excited for them.

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JAM was lucky enough to find that his friend was over at his Dad's (next door) for the day. He and JAM had a blast playing in the piles as his Dad and I cleared and shoveled out the cars.

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Oh geez, just look at those front teeth. :)

And, no snow day would be complete without the mandatory sledding trip! We all piled into the van and headed down to pick up some friends to head over to the hill behind our community library. Nice sized hill, no jagged rocks, little woods at the end of the run for added excitement. JAM's friend and his Dad joined us near the end, good times were had by all.

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Well, good times were had by everyone except poor Pudge. Poor little man was not enjoying the wind blowing the snow all around. We had parked up at our friends house, then walked down to the library but by the time we got there he was just in hysterics. He looked like he was exhausted and the cold and wind weren't helping one bit. I offered to walk back to the van with him and bring it back hoping he would fall asleep as we were driving around. I had to drive around the block a few times but eventually he passed out. By the time I got back to the parking lot Red had had enough of the wind and wanted to get into the van with Wifey (oh yes, angry and yelling at the wind... good times). As they enjoyed some warming up time and a snack (and Pudge continued to snooze) I got to take a few runs down the hill with JAM.

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Once Red had warmed up and calmed down a bit she and Wifey joined us again for some runs.

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And all of this before lunch!!! So far, a great family day. How could we top it off? Well, what do you need to eat on a cold, snowy winter night? SOUP!!! Yuppers, after both little ones went down for nap I got busy in the kitchen and whipped up a batch of Tortilla Lime Chicken Soup from my brother's recipe. Check out what was waiting for us when we went up to wake up Pudge (who actually fell asleep for a second nap for the first time in a LOOONNNGGGG time - walking around in the snow for about 20 minutes must have just tuckered him right out) -

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Oh, and the soup? Soooooooo good. It came out just perfectly too. Add a few toasted-cheese sandwiches and a nice hot fire in the stove, snow on the ground outside... it just doesn't get any better than that. The kids were all beautifully behaved during dinner, Wifey and I enjoyed our soup (Pudge tore into his and even Red took a bite), and all was good.

Witness...

Recipes available for $23.99 but you'll have to ask my brother first. It may be just too good to share. :)

Let's hear it for perfect days huh? There aren't nearly enough of those to go around so we need to celebrate them when they happen.