The Friday personal post is a day late because of the annual SE Virginia snow! If you know anyone that lives in South East Virginia or North Carolina, you know through their social media posts that we got snow. It’s literally the only thing I saw in my feed for two days. The day prior due to the speculation that we could get anything from nothing to a whopping eight inches, and the day of because we don’t get snow all that much!
Mike and I grew up with winters filled with hours upon hours of playing in the snow. I am talking the kind of show where you would spend all day building a fortress with your friends for an epic neighborhood snowball fight only to be too tired to hold said snowball fight.
The kind of show where you only came inside for a quick snack or because your cheeks hurt too badly to stay out. You WERE the snowman from the Campbells soup commercial that came in & melted to reveal a smiling little kid.
From North to South: Growing Up Without Snow
Now that we have kids, we look for nostalgia and ways to connect with them through our own experiences as children. Living in a more southern region has allowed for Trick-or-Treating with out snowsuits, open windows on Thanksgiving and even a few days where no coat was required in December (and January and February!!). But the one thing that leaves a small void is SNOW.
Don’t get me wrong- I do not love the mess it makes. The slush on the floors and piles of wet clothing in the laundry room. I especially dislike the nasty gray snow that lingers along the roads for weeks up north. But I DO want our children to experience the thrill of careening down a hill on a sled, fearing for their life when they think they may hit a tree & then wiping out in order to miss the tree (that wasn’t really all that close to begin with!).
I want them to enjoy the simple pleasure of catching snowflakes on their tongue and examining them on their gloves. I want them to be exhausted from the unified effort of building a colossal snowman (which is usually shorter than the exhausted child).
Here in SE Va, we get snow maybe once or twice a year and it always melts around noon the next day. So you better believe that when the system was forecasted to come though this area, I prepared for a full winter experience!
No milk and bread stock up here! I started by making two loaves of banana bread and stocking up on hot chocolate mix. These littles would need fuel to play hard!
I also hit up our local Target & got snow pants, gloves and snow boots. Thankfully they were 50% off! You can’t stay out in the snow for hours with out the proper gear, after all!
Snow fall began around 2:00 pm EST and the kids were all a chatter about it! The snow fell through the evening, totaling about two inches. This, y’all, is enough to cancel schools & evening activities in this area. On Friday morning the kids were up extra early (like, 6:00 am early!!)- the level of excitement in the house was equal to Christmas morning or the day we leave for a Disney World vacation. It was high.
We were having a snow day!!
The first thing they did was make a little creation each- Jack made a heart for his mamma (this guy makes me melt with all of his love!) and Claire made her very own, personal snowman.
Of course no snow day is complete without throwing a few snowballs. What’s even better is throwing them towards mom! I forgot to tell them not to go full force… I was standing inside the house, shooting through the doorway & we ended up with snow in the house!
I took Katelyn’s tips and advice on using my big camera to shoot for myself & document everyday moments for my own family this week. Her youtube post had the perfect timing actually!
2020
