Snow Days

Finally we got some decent snow.

We spent one lovely afternoon sledding (it was still too cold for packing, but it made perfect sledding snow). We convinced our friends Oliver and Amelie to join us by loaning them one of our sleds, and all four kids had a pretty good time on the hill while their mom Dorina and I chatted and cheered from the sidelines.

After Oliver and Amelie left, Max and Otto found a really good track where the snow was packed tight and there was a bit of a bump to give them a jump. 

Otto later declared that it was "the funnest day he could remember in a long time." And then he added, "And I've had some really fun days lately, so that's saying something!" He's always so diplomatic.

The next day was warmer, and we were delighted to find that it was perfect packing snow. There wasn't as much snow as we would have liked for building a snowman, but with a little creative repositioning (shoveling all the snow from the back yard into a big pile), we were able to make a couple of little snowmen for our backyard.

Max thought this guy deserved a scarf too, so he fashioned one from pipe cleaners.

Hannah later texted me that our snowman was quite a jaunty little fellow. When I read the text to the boys, they asked me what she meant, and I realized I didn't know exactly how to define jaunty. It is one of those words I've heard or read and guessed the meaning based on context but never actually defined—I had guessed it meant rascally or mischievous, but when I looked it up, I found out it means: 

Having or expressing a lively, cheerful, and self-confident manner.

I love that word! It perfectly describes him. Hannah is a writer, and her vocabulary is brimming with wonderful words. I hope we'll have enough snow to build a few more snowmen with some distinctive personalities so Hannah can describe them all to us.