Seasons Change

Well once again I have managed to loose blogs in the vast world of cyberspace. Last night I tried twice to get this done only to hit a "magic" button and have the whole thing zapped off the face of the Earth. Today I thought I'd go back to the main computer downstairs where I can freely type away without fear of hitting something and resetting the cursor or having my post disappear without me knowing what button I accidentally hit while typing on the laptop. Of course when I tried to log on I was told that I didn't exist and my password did not match my log in name. I finally realized when I was typing and retyping my information that I was entering my e-mail address wrong. It's a common mistake I tend to make but have not made it in a while so once I pulled my head out from under the chair I was sitting on (if you get my drift) I got logged in and here I am typing away. Last week was a wonderful, beautiful week. The air was warm, the sky was blue, the lawns were still green and fields and grasses were warm shades of brown and yellow. We were running around outside in short sleeves and light jackets and I was walking barefoot to the mailbox. The last remaining days of autumn have now been replaced by the first peek at winter to come. Yes, by Friday the warm breezes had been replaced by icy blasts that cut through the warmest coats and the endless blue skis full of bright happy sunshine had been turned sullen grey and dark. Yesterday we had our first snow day. Actually it was more of an icy don't travel the back country roads day but school was called off leaving me to entertain three cooped up kids. It had already been a three day weekend due to the Veteran's Day holiday so I was more than ready to send the kids off and get back to my weekday routine. The forecast was for freezing rain with a chance of light snow so it was no surprise when I watched the TV there were a lot of school closings. As far as snow, we got a few inches but most had melted by the late afternoon. I did bundle the kids up and send them outside for a while to burn off some energy. I now remember why I don't encourage outside play in the winter. No, it's not the cold or the snow...it's the clothing. Remember when we were little and going outside meant putting on an extra pair of pants and having an extra set of mittens handy to switch out when the first set was soaking wet? Today's kids don't do extra clothing, they have snow pants. I do the overall type instead of the pant type so I don't have to worry about picking snow out of a waistband or having a shirt come untucked and risking frostbitten ribs. I will say that the waterproof pants help eliminate the big big wet mess but getting them on and off is a pain in the you know what. Matthew is able to get his snow clothes on and off with a little help but there is still Carolyn and Andrew to contend with. Poor Andrew didn't quite understand he was going to get to go out and play with his siblings so he broke down and had a fit when he saw the other two get into the outdoor gear. He'd quiet down as soon as I put an article of clothing on him but would start back up as soon as I stopped and went over to another kid. I finally got everyone bundled up and out into the backyard and they had fun tramping though the soft snow sticking to the grass. I had to call the loving husband and ask where the shovels were so I could clear off the deck and steps before the kids packed the snow down into ice. After we had our fun, it was time to come in and take everything off without leaving wet tracks all over the floor. I need to get another mat for boots but it still takes forever to take off and unzip boots, hats, coats, mittens and snow pants and get wet stuff to an area where it can dry out without making Lake Superior all over the floor. Later after we had hot cocoa and Andrew had gone down for afternoon nap Matthew and Carolyn drew pictures and colored while I studied for my upcoming Tae Kwan Do test. As part of our test we are required to know phrases and terms in Korean so I was making flash cards to help me remember body parts and numbers and various other words. Matthew was selected to be student of the week this week (everyone gets a turn) so he was able to bring in pictures and drawings to be put up on a special bulletin board. This morning I put in the picture he drew yesterday along with two notes he had written me and Jim while working with his therapist at home and some photos that were taken last year. Monday night the bus driver called me and informed me that he would be stopping by a few minutes earlier as they had added two new kids to the route. This morning he showed up at 7:30 instead of 7:45. I had in my head that the new leave time would be 7:40 so I was a little behind in my morning preparations. Thankfully Matthew had his clothes on and I had the backpack loaded and ready to go but I was a little rushed in getting his boots and coat on. I'll do better tomorrow. Actually I'm hoping the sun decides to come back and shine again. I'm getting tired of these grey skies and cloudy days. It is supposed to warm up this weekend and there is a chance of sunny weather.