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snow days

    I have tried to write this blog post all week and every day there has been some sort of distraction that has kept me away from this little space on the internet.

    First, it was the pure joy of watching the snow fall outside. Then it was all the friends and baking and movie watching we had to do to take full advantage of the weather outside. Then it was the power outages and school delays and yesterday with the kids finally back at school, my brain was literally mush and I just needed a moment to run errands, restock the refrigerator and be alone for a few hours to reenergize.

    The snow that fell over the past week is the most we’ve had in the Pacific Northwest in 30 years. Typically we might get an inch or two a few times in the winter, but never like this. It was absolutely magical.

    Last week, the kids were released from school two hours early to prepare for #snowmageddon. You never really know if the weatherman is telling the truth or not, but when the snow started coming down and didn’t stop, we hoped he was.

    After about two hours, our yard looked like this:

    Truly, this would have been a really fun snow storm for us, but as the days went on and the snow kept falling, we ended up with this:

    How gorgeous is all that snow?!!

    When we woke the first morning after a full night of snow, the view out our bedroom window was beautiful.

    One of the best parts of snow (especially for us who usually have to drive up to the mountains to find it) is that it makes you want to get outside and play in it.

     

    The kids spent hours outside sledding, playing, laughing, building. they would take breaks for food and warmth and then head back outside again. I’m sure if you live where the snow is just always there it doesn’t hold as much entertainment value, but for our little northwest kids, it was a true delight.

    The boys worked for hours and hours on a pretty incredible snow fort complete with wood beam ceilings, a separate bedroom, a snow couch, and coat hooks. I’m always so impressed with their creativity, ingenuity, persistence and utter joy in building. There is a lesson in there for us: find a thing that makes you excited to work hard, then do it.

    One of my favorite parts of the snow was how it made the inside of our house practically glow! We struggle with natural light all times of the year, but especially during our dark winters so this week of brightness was a happy surprise.

    The final downpour of snow was one of the most enjoyable days I can remember. We had a bunch of friends over, scrounged together lunch and snacks, played games, built snowmen, chatted with my girlfriends over warm cups of tea.

    Us moms decided we couldn’t let all this snow happen without us taking full advantage of it and we threw on our snow stuff to go play outside.

    I love having friends who will be silly and go sledding and take pictures and catch snow on our tongues. We’re all just children in adult bodies, aren’t we?!

    Our cute house looked even more adorable covered in snow. So much so that I just had to paint it for one of my daily sketches (see them all over on instagram).

    It may have taken me a week to sit down long enough to share a recap of our snowy days, but truth be told, part of what made it so magical was that it was totally unexpected and a break from the norm. Every day we kept waking up wondering what we would see outside, wondering if there would be power or if school and activities would be canceled or who we would play with that day.

    I love a routine and the older I get, the more set in my ways I can be (oops, I don’t mean to be, I promise) so this ruffling of normal was both super fun and a little unsettling in the moment. But it was all worth it.

    And we hope it doesn’t take another 30 years before we have a snowfall like this again.

    18 thoughts on “snow days”

    1. Oh I am so jealous! We were supposed to get A bunch of snow in Albany OR as well, but we didn’t. Your experience was everything I was hoping for. Thanks for sharing!!

    2. I always LOVE unexpected snow days! We only get one or two a year here in Atlanta, but it always feels like a gift – like we somehow have an extra day to do whatever. Happy that you embraced the unexpected! Your kids will always remember that week. :)

    3. Love your pictures – all of them! Your home and the sketches you made are so very pretty! How fun and what a treat to have all that snow!

    4. I’m glad you had such a great time. In NC we had a snow like yours in January. It was more snow at one time than we’ve had in over 30 years, also. I think winter is letting us know what it can be like to see the wonder of snow.

    5. Your home looks beautiful in the snow! Thank you for this post, because here in Minnesota we get so much snow we cringe when more is forecasted. Reading this post made me stop to appreciate the beauty of the snow even if it’s so cold out we don’t play in it. Going out is a challenge and we long for spring (so much!) but it’s good to savor the beauty dropped down from the heavenly storehouses of snow. Thanks Emily!

    6. I love the happiness coming through in this post. I could feel what you described. Thanks for sharing this, brought back many happy memories :)

    7. I love seeing your pictures, thanks for sharing. Down here in Arizona we have to take a drive to see the snow. I think I like pictures the best. That said, I have wonderful memories of getting snowed in when I lived in Portland and we’d sled down the hills in Mt. Table park. Truly some of the best days ever. Stay warm 😊

    8. You got WAY more snow that we did (Longview). We got <3 inches, it was wet and slushy. No good for building snowmen or sledding. It's like it skipped right over us!
      Boo hiss!

    9. Your painted snowy house is darling. I think you should use it for your 2019 Christmas card, I hope you took a cute family picture to go along with it!

    10. This is our reality for about 5 months every year. It is beautiful but it does get old after awhile. I’d rather have snow though than have it be freezing and no snow. It really brightens up winter.

    11. I am so jealous. We live in the Mid Willamette Valley in Oregon right along I5. On February 5 we had about 1-2 inches of snow with a 2 hr school delay. Last Saturday about 8 a.m. it started snowing and lasted about 45 minutes, covering everything white. It melted away as fast as it came.

      I too, love the snow finding it so peaceful and cleansing.

      Thanks for sharing your fun wintry days. We had heard how hard the Seattle area was hit by the ice and snow. .

        1. Your snow was beautiful. The excitement came right thru your writing. Here in MN we worry about when the next storm is coming and what the temps will be. Blessings on your wonderful week!

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