'Tis the Season

So, this is what it looked like outside for a long time:

And this is why I was loving life even though I was stuck inside all day with a 2 year-old, who kept begging to go outside to play in the storm even though he and his sister were both sick:

I love Christmas!

When the snow finally stopped falling, Nathan took Daddy outside to shovel the walks.  As you can see, it wasn't all work and no play--in fact the reverse was probably true.  Daddy later told Mommy about the sledding, and the snowballs, and:  Before they'd been out too long, Daddy called up to Mommy that they were building a snow man.  When they were nearly done, Mom and Katie came out with supplies to help finish it off.  We didn't have buttons for the eyes or mouth, but Mom did find sunglasses and a hat.  To borrow a phrase from Jana, this is our very own snow dude:

Nathan had already found a stick for one arm--Mom and Dad can only guess where since there wasn't another to be found when we started to look around for a 2nd arm.  Mom and Katie strategically placed themselves for the picture to shield the one-armed snow dude from awkward questions.  He has now been fitted with a second appendage and, aside from a brown, frozen nose, seems to be doing fine.

Here Nathan puts the finishing touches on his beloved snow man.  Every time we get out of the car after going somewhere, he runs to the front yard to say "hi" to his snow friend.