Kisses from Heaven?

{"SnOwFLakES ARe KiSsES fRoM HeAveN"}

I'm not sure that I completely agree with the quote from above, as I once mentioned in my LetItSnow post. To a stay-at-home mom, snow can be both blessing and bane. We finally had our "big snow" here in Virginia. So much for global warming, eh?

Normally, I would have been really excited to go out and play in the snow with Natalie, but I was just too tired yesterday. Not your normal, "I'm a mom of two kids and I chase them around all day while attempting to pick up my house and run errands and volunteer for some church groups and work from home" tired either. Sheesh. I need a nap after just reading that.

No, I was tired because of the late night we had. The power went out sometime around 1 am on Monday morning, and we knew the house would be coooooold. Michaela Byrd's room is already chilly, so she was dressed in about 64 layers, along with three or 4 blankets we added. Unfortunately, Natalie has some sort of inner nightlight alarm. When her nightlight went out, she woke up and freaked out. In a rare display of utter stupidity, we stuck her in our bed before she could wake up Michaela Byrd. This was the first, and last time she has ever *slept* in our bed.

She sniffled for a minute before T turned the lantern off. As the light dimmed, I saw a tiny smirk cross her face. She sighed a long fake sigh, the kind a cartoon character makes as he nods off to sleep. One of those.

Then I heard, "Heh Heh Heh," and I knew we were in for a long night.

She jammed her bony little knees into my back for awhile, then sighed and sat up. T told her to lay back down, so she did, draping her arm across my face; then she played with my hair for awhile. Her complaints about being hot sent T over the edge and he issued an edict that she return immediately to her room.

I led a very teary three year old through the darkness, back to her own bed. I pulled up her shade and showed her how the snow made the sky glow. She settled in bed and went to sleep with her music (if you have a baby or toddler or preschooler who likes to self-soothe, I can't say enough good things about this product!).


The power came back on around 5:30 or so in the morning. Thus the fatigue I felt Monday. Here are some pictures from our day in the snow!



















{Winter fairyland! Tree in our front yard}

{Took the girls out to T's parents' house in the "country." Natalie's very first sled ride!}























{T borrowed this hat from Anna Karenina. Not really. His dad made that hat. He's a real SurvivorMan. T forgot his hat, so Pop let him borrow one.}



















{Zoe belongs to T's parents, and she is wild! She had the best time chasing Natalie and Pop down the hill. She made a great game of ripping Natalie's hat off as the sled would go sailing past}























{First solo flight. Now I know how the Wright brothers felt!}




















{Trekking back up the hill}























{Michaela Byrd kept saying "Go-go, Go-go," so T took her on one ride. That is all. She wasn't thrilled.}