SNOW DAY!! { Blizzard 2011 photo essay }

Snowmageddon, snOMG, Snowpocaplypse... whatever you call it -- it was BIG! It started yesterday late afternoon, and we were happy to watch it until about midnight when we went to bed feeling the wind literally shake our house. If I wasn't such a big believer in God, I would have been scared :-)

This morning we woke up excited to see what had developed over night.

And our windows were frozen over in VERY cool patterns. The snow/ice was caught in the screen, and clearly the copious amounts of wind created this pattern.

We couldn't get out our front door... or our back door. Thank goodness the wind was kind to us, and didn't pile up snow drifts right in front of our garage doors. In fact, there were some clear spots where we could see the blacktop. Right next to 3 foot drifts.

I whipped up some melt in your mouth pancakes for everyone. YUMMY!

And then Jeff started layering on the clothes to battle the snow. I went out into the garage to see him get started, and turned around to find Sean looking longingly at the snow piles. He REALLY wanted to play. At least he had the sense to put on Daddy's boots before coming out into the garage.

There was just so much snow, it was hard to fathom where it was all going to go. But my big eagle scout husband was prepared, and I had no doubt we would be free to roam soon enough.

The snow drifts were intense, and honestly hard to capture on film. And some of the wind patterns that emerged on the snow were so beautiful.

When we started out this morning it was still kind of crazy windy with snow flying everywhere. But slowly the neighborhood started coming alive with children playing and parents shoveling and snowblowing.

The snow plows were a welcome sight in the neighborhood, even if they dumped piles of snow at the end of your driveway.

And then the sun started to peek it's nose out to blanket us in its warmth, and to remind us that everything was going to be OK. Spring is coming soon enough. Hard to believe, I know. But I'm certain it will.

I finally bundled Sean up like Kenny from South Park, and sent him on his way to conquer the snow drifts. He was thrilled to be in a huge snow playground where he could climb and jump anywhere. He checked the mail, investigating the ice age, played king of the mountain with Makayla across the street, and learned how to eat snow.

But eventually the cold snow started to run its toll on the little man. And he started to ask for some hot cocoa. So we made our way inside.

That's not to say the work ended outside. In fact, it took at least four hours to dig everyone out of their driveways in our little corner of the neighborhood. It was definitely a community effort. Nothing like a good snow storm to get everyone out of their house.

The rest of the day was spent eating homemade cookies (thanks to our neighbors!), sipping hot cocoa, snuggling on the couch, and skillfully avoiding any kind of housework. Well, it was a snow day. Right? Momma gets a snow day too.

Keep warm! It's gonna get mighty chilly out there, folks.