Upon surviving my first Pennsylvania winter

Today the sun was out, the snow was melting, and it was warm enough for all four of us to go outside for a family walk around the block. One of us slept through the experience while wrapped in a fleece blanket, but we other three enjoyed being outdoors with the sun on our pale faces.

I have survived. I have made it through winter. However, I was so busy surviving, that I forgot to take a single picture of our snowy backyard. You can pretend this is it - we have snow, we have trees.

Since I shamelessly lifted this from the internet, I'll give credit where it's due: this is an original oil painting done by Mark Altrogge, and is available for sale at http://markaltroggepaintings.com/original-oil-paintings-store/snow-shadows. (Cool side fact: the artist is also our pastor. He can paint AND preach!)

But anyway, it snowed here. Like, a LOT. It reminded me of lake-effect snow that we'd get in Holland, MI, when I was a student at Hope College. We got our first snow in November, then December was pretty green. We haven't seen our grass since then, though! Like, this isn't the kind of snow where it all melts off after a few days, then snows again, melts again, etc. We have had weeks when our furnace has been running 24/7 just to keep up, because it's really, really, really cold outside! Okay, so maybe we don't have the best insulation and windows, but still, I don't care what your house is made of, it was cold enough that Andrew said it made his nose hurt. I wouldn't know, since I didn't go outside.

Yes, you read that correctly: there were entire weeks when I did not go outside the house. If I didn't have a newborn in the house, I'm sure I wouldn't have stayed in so much. But honestly, if it's like -10 F out there and you work from home, why exactly would you want to go anywhere? Staying indoors with two small children for extended periods reminded me how fun coloring in coloring books can be, gave me opportunity to learn that Daniel Tiger is a great babysitter, and that one can either go crazy or learn to find the fun in little things. I learned how to exercise a toddler by chasing her around the dining room table. (It actually kind of exercised me, too, since I was usually carrying a very chubby baby while doing so.) I learned that when I reached a certain point of desperation, it was time to talk to my parents on Skype or call a friend, because one needs to converse with another adult now and then.

And now spring is just around the corner, and I'm pretty excited to take these kiddos to the park! Running around the playground is a little more exciting than the dining room table.