Snow! And Lots of it…

In mid-February we got a ton of snow—the kids got out of school early on a Tuesday and didn’t go back to school for the rest of the week.  We were homebound for days.  Jonathan skipped town for work on Tuesday (heading out earlier than necessary to make sure he could make it to Philly for a Thursday meeting), so it was just me and the kids at home together for three and a half days.  We had a fun time hunkering down—and luckily we knew it was coming, so we were all stocked up (yes, milk and t.p…ha ha in true Charlotte snowmaggedon style)—for a few days.  We spent A TON of time outside playing in the snow, making snowmen, “sledding”, shoveling snow, going on walks—we were definitely outside more than any of our neighbors.  The kids were usually armed with a thermos of hot cocoa, to ensure they’d stay out in the snow as long as possible, of course, burning all of their energy there.  But, we also had lots of snuggling movie time and popcorn, board games, books, and, yeah, kindle/iPad/Wii time.  The snow was beautiful and we’re so thankful every year when we get a big snow.  It just doesn’t feel like winter without it…even in Charlotte. 

{wish I remembered why jack was pouting here—he was wronged in some way, no doubt—but love the dichotomy of expressions here.}

{and his smile is back the next day…maybe it was that old hat that was giving him trouble.}

JA Biztown

Ella’s 4th grade class applied their economics lessons by running a town, JA Biztown, for a day on a field trip to the city.  I chaperoned the field trip, but as a chaperone I was put to work supervising the real estate office.  Ella was a nurse for the day, which was luckily next door to my office so I got to check in on her every once in a while (it’s a chaperone rule that you can’t supervise your own child’s office).  There was no rest for the weary on this day, though—the kids, and in turn the chaperones, were literally put to work for nearly 4 hours straight performing the tasks of employees, citizens, and consumers to run JA (Junior Achievement) Biztown.  It was an exhausting day (at least for me) but the 4th graders definitely benefited from the hands-on application of economics and personal banking.

{cutest little nurse in ja biztown.}

First Snow

We got our first snow day of the season at the end of January, although there really wasn’t much snow.  Ella and Jack were, of course, thrilled to play in the snow and to have the day off from school.  Not knowing what was in store for the rest of the winter—we have had winters with no snow—the kids definitely made the best of it, trying to fit in all of their usual snow day activities with the little bit of snow we did have.  We live on the sunny side of the street, though, so they actually had their best luck at a house across the street with a little driveway sledding.  Snow days—the unexpected break from school, plenty of outdoor play, and topped off with hot cocoa—are always awesome…even Charlotte style.