Winter Vacation

Frosty faces;frozen laces
children skating on the pond;
sleds competing; saucers spinning
wildly down the hill and beyond.

Snow flakes falling; north wind blowing
winter down each un-scarved neck.
Friendly shoves with snow caked gloves, now
homeward they begin their trek.

Smiles beaming; cocoa steaming;
soothing to their snow stung smiles.
Shower warming; outside storming;
more snow gathering for awhile.

Now they sleep; dreaming deep of
kings and castles, mountains; then
awaken, hasten, breakfast chasing
to capture winter once again.

The week after this one coming, many children and educators will have a week off from school. It was meant for a "recuperation" time so that all the little sniffles, sneezes, coughs and wheezes would go away; all the stomach viruses would, too, hopefully.

I have many friends and acquaintances in the education field who feel the best place to recuperate is any place there is no snow or temps below 50 degrees! Y'all have fun down south, but I'm waiting and hoping for at least one BIG snow storm before spring begins to peak through the clouds. March will be here before you know it and THEN you will find me hastening spring's return by heading south.

Will you be going anywhere special? Praying safe journeys for all my traveling friends :-)

Snow Day!

When roads are slick

and sidewalks thick

with ice on a weekday morn;






When radios say,

"No school today!"

when suddenly sleep is done;

When breakfast is eaten

and a shoveled path's beaten

to the shed to fetch the sled;

Then hills in all places

announce winter races

where everyone wins in

The End!

It never fails to amaze me the amount of energy a child (and some adults) have when they realize there is no school due to snow and/or ice! Neighbors of mine would be up at the crack of dawn, which in the winter around here comes close to 7 AM, and would be putting their skiis on top of their station wagon and be ready to go as soon as the last child gulped down their breakfast! Sometimes the car would be ready the night before in anticipation of a "snow day."

I really don't have room to talk, though ... snow days off from school would have me into my snowpants at almost the same time so I could take advantage of the new fallen snow on our community hill before the other kids got there! I liked making the "track" for the saucer and made sure it didn't go into the pricker bushes. Pricker bushes remind of another time but that's another story .....

Things haven't changed much and though I don't regularly go sledding, there is still something pretty magical about waking up to a winter wonderland and hearing Tom and Steve on the radio announce that the schools are closed! I work for the school districts and though I may not get paid for snow days, I get to breathe the cold, crisp, clean air as I help shovel and the anticipation of playing with my grandchidren in the snow is worth a whole lot more than a pay check!

Winter Statue

Winter Statue

Eye lashes gathering

Cold nose breathing

Red cheeks feeling

Pink tongue catching

Swirling flakes of winter

It Finally Snowed

It wasn't a humdinger of a snow storm, but you could measure it! Six inches at last measure and it's still lightly snowing. The schools stayed open and the busses were only a little bit late this AM. No one has much trouble unless they are going too fast, have poor tires or have someone in front of them matching that same description.

I slid back down the driveway this AM; of course it was not plowed or sanded. I managed to get a running start and was able to quckly check traffic before sliding out into the road. That was it, though; the rest of the way into work today was easy. I forgot I had to be outside for bus duty in the afternoon, though .. and left my boots in the car! I survived.

I think I may make an apple pie tomorrow .... saw a picture of one on another blog and that did it for me.

Snow Flurries!

It's been snowing all day but there's nothing to show for it. Lots of flurries, some of the flakes quite huge, have been cascading past my windows but appear to be blowing into the next county! I love the snow but hate the cold. Isn't that quite a combination? It's pretty hard to have one without the other, but all I ask is that God hold back the frigid temps and the wind! Please!

I still have to finish my outdoor decorations (just a bit) and our front yard will look very festive. I'll post a picture when it's ready.

Right now, I'm battling my first cold of the season (Zicam works great) and feel pretty good... good thing, too... I'm about to go help with the children at Bible Club. I take them into the gym to play dodge ball, tag ..etc. You know, quiet games :-) I'm sure I'll lose my voice but get it back in time for substitute teaching tomorrow!

My blogging friend has another cool giveway! http://ajoyfulchaos.blogspot.com/

First Snow

The first snow is always exciting, and though it did not really accumulate on the ground, it was certainly pretty as it fell! It would be a lot prettier if it had not been accompanied by sleet and rain, first! The roads were not too bad, so I traveled a bit to have supper with Bill; ham and potaoto soup and a ham sandwich on walnut bread :-) Delicious! Bill was working for the Sheriff's dept. though and was kept busy investigation accidents most of the afternoon and evening. He finally got to the country store where I had finished my supper, but he got to enjoy his.

I really need to make my own soups; It's not like I have to go to work every day! The first on my list is Hamburg Chowder. I'll make enough to freeze some, too. I'm going to try a beef stew and freeze that, too. It's soup/stew weather. Snow flakes and all ...

Another great give-a-away from one of my favorite bloggers, Mary Ann from: http://ajoyfulchaos.blogspot.com/2010/11/giveaway.html If my name comes up in her ranodm drawing, I will definitely enjoy reading this book! I love pioneer type stories and since this pioneer woman and her family was friends with Mary Ann's grandmother, well, that just makes it even more special!