First Snow

In my opinion, nothing can take a person back to childhood faster than a good snowstorm. As soon as that first, thin layer of snow hits the ground memories of canceled school, hot cocoa and sledding start whirring around in my head. Those feelings of safety, comfort and warmth that we all felt after coming inside after a long day of playing outside are right there again, as if it were yesterday.

The first, thin blanket is down, with promises of more (much more!) to come. The older kids tore through their lessons this morning with a zeal and interest I haven't seen in awhile and rushed out to make the snowman pictured above. He'll be covered shortly with the promised 12-18 inches of snow on its way, but he lives for a few more short hours as an ode to the excitement of the first snow and a tangible reminder of an all too fleeting days of our youth when we too had nothing on our plates but the creation and construction of a snowman.