More and more and more snow

This is our neighborhood covered in snow. We are heading off for a walk in the morning around 9.30am but it felt as if we were in the mountains. All the trees were snow covered and there were very few people about.

Now, this evening, its been snowing pretty heavily for hours and we had about 5" overnight. Since I moved to Seattle we have had only a few inches of snow each year. This storm has been giving us snow, ice, serious cold and icicles for a week and telling you about our daily sledding is getting boring. Here are Frost and Elias at the small hill in a nearby park [top] and Frost and Joshua [below].

Although he enjoyed the park, Frost liked to go down the steepest stree hill over a snow ramp. He was giving me nightmares - flying about 3 feet up into the air and crashing downhill. He shouted "that was AWESOME" so many times that Wren has started doing it. I can see him having a career in snowboarding. He just loved the ramps and was getting a lot of positive feedback from adults 'guarding' the routes. I am not encouraging him and banned head first jumps after his first success in aiming straight up the steepest part.


Our neighborhood was pretty snowbound today. The main roads are somewhat passable but cars were sliding backwards down the hill on 75th and most people out there had AWD and/or chains on. The snow was deep enough to make walking difficult and had a thin crust of ice on top from some periods of freezing rain. There was no new snow in the morning but it started up again this afternoon and we have had another 2-3" already.

Frost is still loving it and Wren enjoys making snowmen in his sensory table. We cut down tiny carrots for the noses and he had peppercorn eyes. I hope we are able to make a big snowman in the back yard tomorrow. The crunchy snow crust made it hard to roll balls of it today. Wren was not as happy going out, even in his stroller. He was cold (he had gloves on but they became wet) and didn't like the crunching noise of the ice-crusted snow. It was hard to push him through the snow too - it was 5" deep in some places.


He has a lollipop for compensation.

Gingerbread Houses

This morning we made the gingerbread house. I assembled it with Wren while Frost was still asleep although if I had known how easy it would be I would have waited for him. Typically, I spend an hour mixing the royal icing and then propping the house up as it leans and sags. It takes hours to dry and even then is at risk of catastrophe. I have tried many different "kits" and have made my own from scratch but it has always been the same experience UNTIL THIS YEAR! I must always buy this kit (but can't recall where I got it). Its by "Create a Treat." Mum, do you remember? It is different in that it has a base and the icing is mixed and comes in a bag you snip and use straight away. It was ready to decorate in 15 minutes.

Predictably, the candy and decorating was the part that Frost and Wren liked best. Here they are decorating their own sides.

Frost's side is on the right. He was careful to make the colors of the candy left-right symmetrical. Wren liked to squeeze his own icing / frosting onto the house and was very careful to put candy in each dollop. I put it on the roof for him.




After we had used all the candy Wren checked the box in case there was any more.

Here is the final gingerbread house. It is the most beautiful one we have ever made.
All the candy came with it! The boys also decorated the piece at the front and we ate it for Tea Party today. Well, honestly I ate the gingerbread and they ate the candy.


More Snow
We have had about 2" of snow this evening and Frost and I had a great hour of twilight and early dark sledding at the hill in Dahl field. It is going to be superb sledding tomorrow. Snow is still falling and we are very excited.