4 days: cookies and carols

With the outside temperatures reaching all the way to a whopping 5 degrees above zero, and wind chills dragging that number down by about twenty degrees, we found some great, festive ways to keep ourselves occupied inside today.  This morning we made two different kinds of cookie cutter cookies (see our To Your Health blog for recipes), frosted them, sprinkled them, and made plates to give to the milkman, the organic man, and the librarians we love so much (plus a plate to keep home, of course).  And after all that baking this afternoon found us settling in for short winter naps. Then, much refreshed, this evening we belted our entire library of carols so loudly the neighbors must have heard us, even through our closed doors and the sound of the howling Siberian wind.  Here we come a wassailing...

5 days: our yule log is here early

Snow and cold, that's what winter is all about.  The flip-side of that coin, of course, is the hot chocolate, cozy blankets, and brilliant fires that keep us warm inside.  Yesterday we shovelled, today we played in the snow (for over an hour), and tonight we sit in front of a warming fire made ever more charming by the scent of pine and the glow of Christmas lights that garnish the room.  Five days are left until Christmas; all of our shopping is done; all of our wrapping is done; we've read the T'was the Night Before Christmas to Calvin more times than we can count; tonight (and perhaps all the others, too) we are sitting back and enjoying the warmth of the season.  We hope you are doing the same!

6 days: hindsight is 20/20

We never should have used the words "snowed in" those few days ago.  Sure, the snow was pretty, and yes, it required shoveling, and not just the usual wait-for-the-sun-to-melt-it-technique but real true shoveling, but by using those particular words "snowed in" we jinxed ourselves and this morning we woke up to a winter onslaught of snow and ice that left us with over 1 foot of new snow to shovel after lunch.  Really, this isn't a problem for us–we love snow, and hope this means we will be blessed with the coveted white Christmas–but today we really were snowed in; the plow visited our neighborhood several times before the snow stopped around one o'clock, but he didn't plow out our little cul-de-sac, and the foot plus of snow combined with the throw from the plow made our off-shoot impassable in the true meaning of the word. But no worries; we had dinner supplies and plenty to do, especially with the fun that the snow itself supplies.  Shoveling took nearly two hours, the majority of which, I'm sure, was devoted to throwing snow balls, sledding the driveway, and climbing snow mountains.  Oh, and shoveling the lawn so our seven pound dachshund can make it out to potty.

7 days: let's try that again

Calvin enjoyed his first interview with Saint Nicholas so much that he's been asking for a repeat occurrence ever since.  That or maybe he thought better of asking for an African Wild Dog (his new favorite song, after all, is "I want a hippopotamus for Christmas) and wanted another chance.  Since we were going to be in the mall today for lunch with a friend, and since you know I never pass up a photo opportunity, he and I walked (or, rather, I walked and he ran) to the center of the building to meet with the man in red.  Again, no sign of uneasiness on Calvin's part, and, again, no hesitation in his answer either; this time, though, he asked for a train.  And not just any train, either, but a train with "an engine, and a sleeper car, and a box car, and a passenger car, and a flat car.  yeah.  Oh, and a sleeper car.  Yeah!"  in his most authoritative tone, complete with hand motions.  Forget the SLR camera, I should have taken the video recorder.

8 days: up to our you know whats

If we were aiming for a white Christmas our decoration arrived a week too early.  We watched the snow falling last night and woke up to a true winter wonderland this morning.  It's always more enjoyable when there's no place you have to go, and even more so for Calvin, who doesn't have to shovel it.  If we are lucky it will stick around long enough to brighten our Christmas day, but we won't hold our breath; we've celebrated Michigan Christmases long enough to know better.