Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!

There is something almost magical about waking up early in the morning when it snows. There is that first knowing....when I open my eyes and notice what I call the snow glow, that glow reaching in through the windows that just isn't there unless it's snowed. A smile spreads as I glance out at the big lacy flakes slowly floating down to blanket the earth. There is a special silence that comes with the early morning snow. It's still dark as I tiptoe through the chilly house, turn up the heat and start the coffee. While I wait for the coffee to brew, I watch the flakes peacefully drift to the ground, and all is calm.

I sneak quietly into the girls' room to wake up Katie for school. All the girls are snuggled way down in their covers. I brush the hair back from Katie's face and whisper in her ear "It's snowing!" A smile spreads across her sleepy little face, her eyes still closed. Cameron does much the same, but with a little gasp and a giggle. After they come downstairs ready for the day, they bundle up....coats, hats, mittens, etc. and run out into the cold, scooping up the snow to make snowballs, and tasting the fresh, fluffy, pure white wonder.

Later, Rosalie and Natalie look at me with eyes round and faces bright, exclaiming "It's snowing!!!" Then they declare that it must be Christmas because there is snow on the ground.

After the kids are all at school, I drive to the town down the highway to do my grocery shopping. The roads are fine, but the view is breathtaking. The vineyards on the hills make a black and white striped quilt pattern, the trees are dusted with white, each branch outlined against the sky and dark fir trees in the background, and in the distance the mountains are crisp and white. The sky is blue with clouds in shades of gray. My heart can't help but rejoice in this magical wonder.....snow!!

CUTE KISLING KID QUOTES:


Rosalie says....

"Mom, Nana bought me a pluto dog." When she showed it to me, I realized it was a poodle.

"Mom, we watched 'Little Red Robin Hood'."






Natalie says.....

As she twirls around to Christmas music in her Christmas dress, "Look, Mom! It TOTALLY twirls!!"

Referring to Grampa's teasing about sucking her thumb, "I'm afraid it's NOT going to turn into a pacifier!"

"I can't go to school today cuz I have the cough-ez."


Katie says.....

Anticipating her daddy's arrival from a week away at a conference, she asks when she'll see Daddy. I told her she'd see him in the morning. She says "I can't wait to see that big lump in your bed again!"

Explaining the reason she let Rosalie have her peppermint after lunch at a restaurant she says "I don't really care for them anyway. I just took one to be polite."


Cameron says........

As he's reading this post..."What about me, Mom?" I said I couldn't think of anything cute he's said lately. :) He says to tell you some of his jokes, so here goes....

"Which state has the most boats? OR-egon."
"Which state misses the most school days? MISS-issippi."

Cameron is growing up so much! He cleans his room and does his dishes without being told. He cleaned the bathroom the other day, and it sparkled! He carries on adult conversations easily and is lots of fun to be around. They all are!

Was I really just there?


YES! Reid happened to have a conference to attend and we figured this was the chance of a lifetime...a trip to Hawaii half paid for. Just the two of us, the first time in our "married life with kids" we got a few days vacation without an agenda. We'd been away before, like to a funeral that Reid officiated, a Family Life Marriage conference when Cam was a baby, but nothing like this!

So we left the cold rain for tropical temperatures, tasty seafood, wonderful fruits and endless ocean. We shopped, ate out, spent time on the beach, played a game, read books, and watched a movie in our hotel room. I even polished my nails! :) (I don't usually bother to paint my fingernails because it looks tacky by the next day...too much water exposure. This time the polish lasted til I got home!) All this just steps from the palm tree lined beach. We also enjoyed the Polynesian Cultural Center.

Ahh, what bliss! And the kids had a blast too! Nana and Grampa stayed with them. They got to eat pizza, sleep in the motor home, go out to eat and go to an OSU football game. What more could a kid ask for?

All in all a wonderful time for all. Even Nana and Grampa said it was fun. :)