Snow!

The last two times there has been enough of something white and cold on the ground I've not been around - and I've missed being able to take pictures of the kids on their toboggans that Oma bought last year at the end of the season. Allegedly these toboggans go fast. . .and today the camera and I will be around to capture the moment(s).

And other than making a trek to Speedy Mart to pick up a New York Times, I don't really need to go out. Neither rain, nor snow, nor gloom of night will keep me from the the NYT crossword puzzle, it's a Sunday obsession. Most weeks I finish it, which gives me (false) hope that spending too much time watching Noggin and PBS Kids hasn't completely gnawed holes in my white matter.

Micah has new boots, rain boots as the shoe store clerk was quick to point out. Mr. Clerk doesn't know that with Mommy Ingenuity and a few extra pairs of socks, a form of snow boots is possible. He also got a new pair of shoes because almost overnight the shoes we bought in September while visiting Oma started to disintegrate. And his shoe size went up one complete size in four months. Maybe he won't be the family's little peanut after all.

Micah, wearing his German cousin's snow overalls, his cousin Willi's jacket, a pom-pom hat that was Thea's - and his brand-new Thomas the Tank Engine boots.

Thea zipping down the hill.

Can I go farther and faster with an extra 30 lbs. on my toboggan?