The Winter Life

We have had a very icy, snowy January and February this year.  "The worst I've ever seen," a sixty-something local declared to me.  We have had solid ice on our yards, sidewalks, and untreated roads (all the roads in our town).

The Super Ice Storm of the Year was coming in one night,

so we got prepared to lose power.

The electricity went off and on

several times throughout the night

but we were fortunate not to lose it for 24+ hours like

the surrounding towns.

It got so cold a few nights that we had the boys sleep

in tents in the dining room.

Their bedroom gets extraordinarily cold,

so we shut the bedroom door and just let it be cold,

all by itself.

 Here is Paul's Sandwich Smasher.

He is making fabulous Turkey Melts

that tend to be too tall.

 So he adapted Martha Stewart's Brick Sandwich

smashing technique.

(We made the Brick Sandwich once.  Once.

That was a fun trip.)

  

 One long afternoon Reuben and I tried making pretzel bites.

 We were a great team.

He cut them and I boiled them.

 Salty on the left.

Cinnamon Sugar on the right,

with cream cheese icing.

Soft and yum.

Recipe HERE.

 I wasn't joking about the ice.

This is our backyard.

And those are ice skates Reuben is wearing.

 For some reason he thinks he loves ice skating

and has been wanting us to take him skating all winter.

Cue ice storm.

Thank you.

As a part of a history lesson,

we learned how to play chess.

Thanks to Craig and Tiffany for

this chess set.

And, ugh, Peter created Chess 2

in which he makes up the rules in order to ensure victory.

His victory.

Thus the Lego guy and pink paper.

The game never ends.

 Supposedly, this thing called Winter is not quite done.  But I am living in the moment here.  In this sixty degree moment.