Snowpocolypse Now

This is the craziest snowstorm I've ever seen. Claire keeps asking, "Are we snowed in yet?" and I eventually realized that what she means is, "Is it physically impossible for us to exit our house yet?"

Close. Really close. The snow in our backyard is level with the deck railing. Chris went out to brush off the air vent, and the snow at some points was over his chest.

The girls had been logging some serious hours outside since the last storm a few days ago, but today it is literally impossible. The wind is so intense that I often can't see outside the windows, and the snow is over the heads of all of the girls. Chris and I spent a good four hours (and Chris spent closer to six) digging out the driveway last Saturday, and now you can't tell that we did it at all. Chris made a foray outside today, but we've decided to wait to shovel until tomorrow when the wind dies down.

So how do you spend a snow day when it's too intense to actually enjoy the snow? If you are us, you watch The Killers DVD for the billionth time (and if you think Chris and I are the ones watching this over and over and over, you don't know our kids.) We read. I Bake. We eat. We eat some more. Copious amounts of hot cocoa are consumed. I knit, Chris tries to play video games, and when the girls start to get to crazy I mobilize them to rearrange multiple rooms in the house.

Chris was thrilled with that last one.

A friend called us yesterday on the spur of the moment and invited us over for lunch, before we were all snowed in again. I am so glad that we accepted the offer as I look out now at the white wasteland around us. It's hard to keep from feeling that the snow will be here forever now, that we will have to dig our way to the pool next summer and that hanging up dripping boots and gloves will become a permanent routine.

It's gorgeous, though. And, despite the frantic level of noise as the girls go a leetle bit stir-crazy, it's so nice and cozy to have us all holed up together, drinking our hot cocoa under warm blankets as the snow continues to swirl outside with no sign of slowing down. So we'll fire up the DVD again, and I'll say a small prayer of thanks that we all (Lucy included, no joke) can enjoy The Killers together.