SNOW DAY first of WInter 2009

Its 0530 on a Saturday and Gavin comes running through the house to each person's room that it has been snowing. He is talking so fast my brain does not catch half of it so I tell him to settle down. "NO MOM, really, LOOK!" He rips open the blinds so hard I think he is pulling them out of the walls. I give in for the sake of not wanting to replace them this year.
The houses and yards were not only dusted but had a amazing amount still falling upon them. I crawled in bed with Ethan while Gavin and Carson climbed in with Philip. How long they actually slept I don't know. Ethan's side was cold as Philip said he was taking dogs and kids out..I asked for pictures. Rolled over and went back to sleep.
The smell of pancakes woke me up about the time Ethan was coming in. The boys had built a small fort wall in our back yard. Gavin quickly let me know it was only to practice for because the snow was like dust. Good I thought the best kind. No surprises as to what damage a real storm could do.
The snow kept falling as the boys were back in with wet tennis shoes. Funny in a way because we just went to stores yesterday looking for Carson a coat. He was very upset at Old Navy when the only coat he liked was $65 and didn't come in his size. Yes! I put my foot down about the tantrum..even not buying the hat and gloves he liked after he remarked Dad would get it for him, I still had compassion. How can we be in America and still not have choices available? We live near a shopping area but who wants to take their whole family shopping? Not I.
Today we all got dressed and chattered in the car. It was amazing at how little they sounded as they talked about sleds and boots, forts, teams, and all the fun stuff that goes with boys and snow. Walmart Supercenter..ugh. They did have boots for Carson who still wears a big size for a kid. Ethan and Gavin are in men's small sizes. There were no sleds to be found but we found some rocking trashcan lids. The trash can was $10 sold only with lid so we decided to wait. Why don't they sell lids seperatly? I am sure they blow away or get eaten by dogs?
Gavin floored me as we went into Dick's Sporting Goods. He was all about selling me on Underarmor. What does a 9 year old do with that expensive of an item? I know when he was 2 he wanted Levi's because they had five pockets. Underarmor is soft and fits well..ok I get it.
Besides the sales pitch for UnderArmor we didn't get much from Dick's Sporting goods. OH AND THEY MAKE SOCKS TOO LOL. The boys eyed snow boards.. no no no. They even asked to use our snowskis since we couldn't find any sleds. No way. We do have a hosptial with an emergency room three blocks away. It is small and doesn't have a good reputation but still there.
One of the hazaards of shopping is you always somehow miss a meal. I don't know how this happens but we do anyhow. Just in time to save us lots of money everyone was more tierd than hungry. We headed home for a big lunch after grabbing rotisserie chicken from HyVee. Full with a hot meal I immediatly cuddled and went to sleep on the sofa. Philip was watching Gordon Ramsey's Kitchen Nightmares. This paticular kitchen served nice food in Hollywood.,from all premade products. I was glad we ate at home.
The thing about boys is once they are fed and warm it's time to rough house. We on the other hand were ready to hide in our mink blankets ( extremely warm fuzzy synthetic blanket from Korea). There is a certain point as a mom you are willing to throw your innocent husband into the frenzy to save yourself. I kept Carson with me while Ethan, Philip, and Gavin went to Super Target to get boots hopefully for them.
With great success they hunted down sleds there also. Timing is everything, the store had just put them out. I loved the half hour power nap stolen while they were gone. Carson flew off the sofa from his cuddle spot behind my knees at the first word of sled. Off they went for what snow was left on our monster neighborhood hill.
The hill is one of the things we talked about when picking this house out. It held a promise of hours of fun for us all. Our yard is small but the park with hill is down a bike path. Can't beat that. Returned were three mud balls. I haven't quite looked into the damage yet but know snow is better than the sand they have been bringing home from the park.