Sunny and Snowy

The drive to work today was beautiful. It snowed all day yesterday, and kept snowing overnight. This morning there were some flurries, but the sun came out as I was leaving the house. The roads are all fine (don't ask me why they cancelled school for the 4th consecutive day).

As I drove by our new chapel, I wished I had brought along my digital camera. The church sits facing the highway and has about 100 or so pine trees in the "front yard". All were snow covered, with the branches hanging low, and the sun from behind the church. Would have been a great picture. Of course, I would have been late to work, but that's beside the point. My commute takes me through some roads that wind through woods and forests. All the trees were snow lined, and it was an awesome sight.

Now I'm at work, wishing I were at home with the kids. When the boys woke up ("boys" refers to the 3.5 year old twins) they asked if we could make a snowman. Given that we were all still in PJs, it wasn't practical at the moment. I checked the local news website (WTOP radio, a Bonneville station--wink, wink) to see about school closings. The boys go to a preschool program offered by a local public high school. Sure enough, since the roads are actually wet, the schools are all closed.


Backyard view, before the sun broke through the clouds

Since I was online, they asked if we could go to the Thomas website. They love Thomas the Train. So we clicked around on the site for a while, and printed off some pictures they could color. We sat at the kitchen table, they colored with their crayons. Okay, actually, I colored with their crayons. They love it when they pick the colors and have me do the actual coloring--I keep telling them they're missing the point. Then they add their finishing touches. The little guy (22 month old) woke up and he joined in the coloring fun--only, he colored the new kitchen table, something I didn't realize and something that made Anne, upon waking up, second guess the value of sleeping in.

I figured I could go into work late, and we'd have time to build a snowman before the snow disappeared. Then I got a call from a coworker who was ill. Someone else is on vacation, and we had two people leave in the last few months that haven't been replaced yet. Long and the short? It would be just me at the office today. So, that meant I had to get showered/shaved/dressed/family-prayered/out-the-door in less time than it would normally take.

So here I am, preferring to be home building a melting snowman. There are days when Anne is at home wishing she were here (well, not here exactly, but in front of a classroom of middle schoolers teaching math, literature and music). We'll all survive, I suppose, and in the mean time the trees sure look pretty.