Snow!

Last night we had quite the blizzard.  Kevin is out of town on his first ever business trip, so that leaves me at home, alone with two kids, in a blizzard.  I decide to make the most of it.  I have been promising Malcolm for a while that when we got enough snow, we would make snow ice cream.  We have tried a couple of times, but there has not been enough snow all at once.

Around nap time (1:00), I set out two bowls to collect the snow.  It was snowing steadily, but not too bad.  The forecast was for it really pick up around 3:00, so I figured there would be plenty by dinner time (6:00).  Was there ever!  I went out after dinner to retrieve the bowls...and couldn't find them!  They are somewhere in our yard, buried. I went back up to the house to have Malcolm fetch me another bowl, and the storm door was locked. Little bugger locked me out in a blizzard! After a lecture, hug, apology, promise to never do it again, and a discussion about whether or not we should even make ice cream, I went out and got the snow.

We mixed up the ice cream and the kids loved it! It was very tasty, but it doesn't keep, so I called and asked the neighbors if they would like some. I ran it over, and on my way found a drift in the yard that came up to the top of my knee high boots. The neighbor kids liked the ice cream too. The recipe is:

8 cups clean, fresh snow
14 oz sweetened condensed milk
1 tsp vanilla extract

Mix well and eat right away.


Since Kevin is out of town, our wonderful neighbors said that they would clear our driveway and sidewalks for me. Hooray! It looked like a lot of work, and I'm so appreciative. Our back door was snowed in but we could get out the front, so I took the kids out for a little while to see all of the snow and just to get out of the house for a bit (they were getting a little squirrel-y).


Here is why I couldn't get the back door open.


This is the view out our back door. Obviously, we have a detached garage, and the giant swath of snow is part of our driveway.


The kids are on our driveway. The snow behind them is just what came down. The snow-blower blew the snow the opposite direction, so it is easy to see how deep the snow was.


Dorothy sitting on the sidewalk.


Malcolm was big help shoveling. He helped be dig out our back steps and shoveled the snow that was left behind by the snow-blower.


Here, he is trying to help the neighbor who was doing our driveway by digging out their sidewalk. He worked hard, but I think the snow-blower was faster.


After the shoveling was finished, each kid got a sled ride. Malcolm refused to ride with Dorothy, so she rode in her sled, then he rode in his. She likes to go faster than he does, so it was probably for the best.


Before we went in, Malcolm wanted to pull his sled down the sidewalk. Then we went inside to warm up and have hot chocolate and lunch.