"Snow provokes responses that reach right back to childhood."

When I was woken at 6am on Friday morning by two very excited boys shouting "there's snow!!!", I pulled the duvet back over my head and thought 'all this for a light sprinkling' I need my sleep. 5 whole minutes of excitement passed before I was literally dragged from bed to join in with the prancing about. As I walked over to the window rubbing my eyes I wasn't expecting the magic that was going on outside. Despite my lack of motivation for getting out of bed that morning, I should probably point out that...

I can probably go as far as saying that when it gets to this time of year I crave it. If you don't mind the cold then snow can be the best fun. Ive never seen the boys get dressed so quick, we were outside just after 7am throwing snowballs (quietly of course). Gridlock traffic 5 minutes up the road on the school run soon changed to me u-turning my way back home so that we could have some serious fun. 9am and we already had a snowman built and that just kick started what has been an amazing 4 days so far. after the snowman was built we started building a snow base because lets be honest, a huge snowball fight was inevitable.

 It wouldn't have been fair, the kids having a base and not me, so we used a really useful box to make lots of snow bricks and built three walls for me to hide behind, it was the perfect way to protect myself from heavy fire.

Although we stayed out pretty much all day we had lots of hot drinks and snacks to keep us three snow brawlers warm and full of energy.

 With no sign of the snow leaving anytime soon and with Seth's school closed, today's snow fun was a morning of snowball fights, followed by sledging down the hills of a local farmers field, snow bliss.

To make things even more exciting, when we finally came in this evening we found out that the school will be closed again tomorrow. So we can continue the snow fun for another day.

"To cease to admire is a proof of deterioration."

Well it seems that we've had our fill of the snow for this winter. I think we made the most of it though. We did all of the usual snow activities, We made snow angels, had a snowball fight, Made a LEGO  snowman, built an LEGO igloo, all with our own little twist. Although we had lots of fun and I do love the snow I'm glad it's cleared as getting out and about in the car was a bit of a pain at times. It was great while it lasted but lets please all stop to think about the casualties of the snow. The deteriorating snowmen with missing arms and eyes and the igloo's that would be no good to any of the passing Inuit's we may have in the Shropshire area. Today I will be thinking about you all. Until next year my fallen frozen comrades.

"Of course you're not an elf. You're six-foot-three and had a beard since you were fifteen."

So it's day 2 of the snow filled fun. I woke up with Opeie early and we had cuddles on the sofa under the blanket and watched the usual Yo Gabba Gabba/Aquabats Super Show marathon while Mrs M and Seth were still asleep. Looking out the window it was obvious that i wasn't going to be doing the Saturday morning trip to Tae kwon do so i knew i could keep my Giraffe onesie on for a couple of extra hours.

Seth woke up around 7 and we pretty much played with the Lego until Mrs M woke up. Seth was itching to get outside but Opeie's teeth were giving him jip so Mrs M took Seth sledging and we stayed in the warm. Opeie started to feel a bit less groggy so i decided to get him ready to go in the garden

Again it seemed to take forever to get him ready and by the time we got into the garden Mrs M and Seth were just getting back. Seth stayed in the garden with us for a bit making perfectly round snowballs, sledging and writing our names in the snow but as he had already been out for a while he was cold and decided to go in.

Opeie was wrapped up nice and warm in snow trousers and his fancy pink wellies so he was good for a bit more snow fun, so next on our agenda was a snow man. It was Opeie's first snow man so i wanted it to be something fancy. Opeie loves playing with Lego minifigures, he will sit there for ages swapping the heads, bodies and giving them new hair and hats so i decided to make a snow minifigure...

I gave him a crash course in how to roll a body out in the snow and we was having lots of fun but unfortunately he started to get cold and wanted to go in and play with Seth. I decided to stay outside and make Opeie his Snowy Lego man. I did feel a little bad because the house was a bit of a mess but then how often does it snow?! 

It didn't take to long to make and ended up looking pretty good, the hardest part was the hands. The boys loved it and it's another nice thing for them to look back on. Hopefully the snow will still be here tomorrow and we can have yet another afternoon of snow fun.

"Then come the wild weather, come sleet or come snow, we will stand by each other, however it blow."

It seems that everyone in the UK has gone 'snow mad', Every time it snows in this country people act like it has never snowed before. Mrs M has been hilarious this week, checking the Met Office every hour and updating me on when the snow is coming and how long its staying for. I love the snow but I'm patient and much prefer the surprise of it coming round. Ive avoided the social networking sites as much as i can as it seems that each one has turned into weather.com and there's only so many 'it's snowing' updates i can take.

Well the snow is actually here now so i thought i would write a post about what we've been up to (snow related of course). We didn't have any last year so this is the first bit of snow that Opeie has experienced so he has been excitedly sitting at the window desperate to get outside.

There wasn't much on the ground when we woke up this morning so i got Seth ready for school as usual but as we walked through the gates it was clear that he wouldn't be in school very long. After the slightly dangerous drive home, brakes locking and skidding all over we sat patiently waiting for a text from the school which came at 11am saying we could get Seth. It took me three times as long to get to the school but i was happy to have Seth out so that we could concentrate on having some fun. 

After what seemed like an hour and a half getting the boys dressed we were ready to head out. I know the boys need to be warm but Mrs M seems to want them both looking like the Stay Puft Marshmallow man in all their layers. They each got in a sledge and we pulled them down the road, although Opeie soon lost interest in that and wanted to be carried. We headed up to  a local school where there were some hills for us to make the most of the sledges.

We all had a great time but Opeie started to really get cold it was very cold and we all had bright red cheeks. Silly daddy should have put Opeie in a balaclava (I'll know for tomorrow though).

Mrs M decide to take Opeie home, i think they had both had enough of the snow. Me and Seth stayed for some more sledging and a 'snow battle' as Seth called it. We went down the hills on the sledges backwards, on our tummies and i even used mine as a snowboard which made Seth laugh.

We had a snowball fight but sadly the inevitable happened and i hit Seth in the nose with one (Oops), he was Ok though and soon got over it after giving me a big snow beard to get me back...

Soon after we both started to get really cold so Seth got back in his sledge and i pulled him home so that we could have a nice cup of tea and a cuddle under a blanket. It was a great couple of hours and we will definitely be making the most of snow over the next few days. Tomorrow we'll be making a snowman i think so be sure to keep reading.