Snowed in foreva

How do you know if you have been snowed in foreva? You find yourself identifying with the following 15 steps.

1. You Dehydrate pineapple, just so you will have a healthy choice available while your children are eating snow ice cream for the 12th time.

2. You Let your children nap, and nap, and nap some more.

3. You learn to keep a close eye on "napping children."

Case in point. I put the girls down for their afternoon nap, and two hours later, I get a phone call (on the house phone) from my sweet husband, informing me that the girls had just called him.

"huh? What are you talking about? The girls are...."

I walk in, only to discover my sweet girls, both on the top bunk, having a grand ol' time with my cell phone. After a brief scolding and a stern word of warning, I put them back to bed, reclaimed my phone, stepped out of their room, and laughed for a good three minutes. I then examined my phone for damage. Luckily, they had only called their daddy, but they did take 148 pictures. Here is a brief sampling...

4. You plan a double date night with some dear friends, hire a babysitter, and put make-up on for the first time in days. Then proceed to watch your husband run out of gas on the side of the road, which will then trigger a ten minute cry-session in which the words, "All I wanted was ONE normal night" come flying over your lips. Oh, and don't forget to take a picture - you'll want to remember that moment someday.

5. You build a monstrous fort for your children, just so they can have a "change of scenery."

6. You let your 4 year old paint her own toe nails.

7. And spend the good part of a morning scrubbing finger-nail polish off of your 4 year old's skin, while continually repeating "What was I thinking?"

8. You take a picture of your dog, and know that he, also, has gained at least 5 pounds during this snowcation. Hey, it happens to the best of us. (I should know)

9. You proceed to play hide and seek with your children so many times that they actually get extraordinarily good at it.

10. You start conducting make-shift crafts out of construction paper, a doily, crafter's glue, and last year's valentine candy,

11. You make these "meringue" cookies, that look and feel like Christmas ornaments, and savor every bite because it is the only sweet recipe in which I had all the ingredients for.

12. You play a game called, "On what step can my children jump off of and still be caught in the loving arms of their mommy." They each respectively reached the following steps....

13. Your husband has a competition with the neighbor on how fast each can shovel their drive.

Ben would like all of you to know that he won.

I've never been more proud.

14. You sit down and paint with your children, and remember how important it is to enjoy these moments.

15. And make memories that will last a lifetime.

Wherever you are, snowed in or not, I hope you are enjoying time with your family, staying warm, and finding sanity in the knowledge of my 15 steps of being snowed in. Oh, and sunshine, please hurry, before I am forced to eat last years Valentine candy.