Season of Wonder

I am the first to admit it. I was a snow hater. It began in my middle school years because snow soooo got in the way of wearing cute and trendy clothes. My mom and I would battle over me wearing sandals and skirts when more weather appropriate attire would have been mukluks and a snowsuit.

The hatred towards winter weather increased in intensity when I reached my college years and was appalled to realize that there were no "snow days" on campus. Since you basically walked everywhere, there was no threat of getting into car accidents driving on freshly coated streets. You could just slip and slide your little self right into a classroom. I remember specifically one morning at UW-Eau Claire where I woke up, bundled up, (yep, you read that right, Mom) and grabbed my backpack. My roommate, still in her bed, mumbled something snarky about enjoying my walk to class. I responded to her with some self-important diatribe about being responsible for my education. I shuffled down the stairs in my dorm to the glass door that exited to the courtyard. It was pure white from the snow drifts that were imprisoning me and fairly taunting me to go back to bed. After I shoulder checked the door several times opening it only inches wide, I squashed myself though and proceeded through thigh high snow that had not been cleared from the campus sidewalks. It was at the top of the stairs (if you know UWEC you are aware the living facilities are, as a practical joke, placed on top of a giant fricking hill and the class buildings are at the bottom) when it hit me that it had taken thirty minutes to trudge about 50 yards. I said screw it and headed back to my room where my roommate was abed chuckling like a jerk.

That being said, I think you grasp how I felt about these wintery months. It wasn't until last year that my hatred began to ebb. Lily loves being outside. I mean really REALLY loves it. She will play for hours in the great wide open regardless of what the weather is like. Last winter, we bundled up and made dozens of snowmen. We got ourselves snowsuited and went sledding hundreds of times. She left yards full of snow angels and tiny boot tracks everywhere we went. Icicles were things to be marveled at. Fresh snow was something to be played in and formed into balls of varying shapes, sizes and purposes. Grades were given for best types of snow for packing, flinging and stomping. There was absolutely no stopping her. As I watched her eyes light up this year at the first glimpse of snow I began to think of how magical the world looks cloaked in white. I was amazed at how Rockwellian our little neighborhood looked this morning when I opened the curtains and realized we were snow covered.

Leave it to Lily to turn something I absolutely detested into something that fills me with the feeling of hushed awe. I snuck into our bedroom just now and held Mark's hand all the way to the front window where he sleepily peered out and smiled. His thoughts going immediately to the fun he and Lily would have outside this winter. Or maybe he was thinking about what the look on her sweet face will be when she wakes to a real snowfall. It is a heartstopper to see her reactions to these moments of magic. As you read this, I will be hoping you get your own little slice of wonder this season. Take the time to see it as I now am able to see it... a blank canvas.

Agradulations, Dad!

Lily and I baked a cake for Mark yesterday. He likes chocolate cake with white frosting. Lily is aware of this. The cover of the cake mix box shows a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. As we were gathering our baking supplies Lily took issue with the box cover art. She was up in arms that her daddy likes white frosting not the black frosting. She was seriously upset. She began to dismount her chair and abandon the project until I convinced her that the powder inside the box was only the cake. I had to actually open the container of frosting and prove that I was not yanking her chain.

She patiently waited until Mark got home to eat the cake too. By patiently I mean she asked me about once an hour if she could have some cake. She even began bartering.
"Mom, I'll have some cake. Then I will take a nap."
I explained to her that we were waiting to have cake until Daddy got home because we baked it for him to celebrate the fact that he got a job offer. This prospect was exciting enough that she held out until he got home.

She woke up from her nap and immediately asked about the mystical cake. I asked her if she wanted to show the cake to Daddy.
"Is he here?" she asked me while still in bed.
When I told her he just got home she catapulted herself out of bed and raced into the bathroom. She asked for help getting her pants off because she was too excited to take the time to do it. When she finished her business she dragged Mark into the kitchen and said:
"Daaad... I gotta surprise for ya!"
"What is it?"
She then proceeds to point at the cake that is clearly on the counter behind him. He makes a huge deal about it and she gets this wide smile, puts her arms out and says...

"Agradulations, Dad!"

What a Princess

Lily had a very specific notion in her head for Halloween. She wanted to be Belle. And she wanted to score some candy. She was successful in these two goals. She looked absolutely adorable and was very good considering we had to wake her from a nap at 5pm to get ready to go trick-or-treating. By the time we did the grandparent parade through Hudson and landed in Woodbury it was around 7pm. She was unstoppable. We kept asking her if she was cold or if she wanted to be done and her responses were hilarious.

"No! Onto the next!" -or- "Just five more houses."

Lately we have had a bit of juggling to do with Mark's parents being laid up. His mom just had her knee replaced and his dad had to be hospitalized for an infection. Both are on the mend now but the past week has been incredibly haphazard for us all to say the least. Lily has been very concerned about her grandma. When some of the kids we know from the pool in the summer came by on Halloween, Lily very seriously and in almost a tizzy trying to get the words out fast enough, told the girls that her grandma wasn't feeling well. And she proceeded to make them all come in and look at poor Barbara laying there on the couch.

We are doing our best to try to make sure everything in her world is gently told to her. But she notices everything. She is such a conductor for emotions. But she seems to make everything better when she gives me a little pat and very sincerely says, "It's ok, mama."