Plenty of the white stuff - 5 (a.k.a stick a fork in me, I am done!)

We did it. My Toppall team and I made it through 2 really big, back-to-back snowstorms. Digging out has not been fun and finding places to put all this snow has proven to be challenging.

My heart goes out to Samantha who couldn't understand why we didn't go out for days on end. Even mentioning the word "out" got her running to the coat closet to reach for her jacket and got her pointing to her head saying, "hat, hat, hat." From time to time, she would look longingly at her boots and say "boot, boot, boot" until we helped her put them on. I guess she needed this to feel like she might actually go somewhere.

I wouldn't have minded taking the kids out in the snow and going for a walk, sledding or building a snowman. But as we found out with the blizzard in Dec. '09, the kids do not like the snow and all they do is complain. Sam has to be held the whole time because if you put her down, she'll either fall or completely disappear in the snow. The amount of time we are actually outside does not justify how long it takes to prepare them with layers beforehand and then delayering them afterwards. It is just easier to stay inside, dry and warm.

I hit my breaking point on Thursday. I just couldn't take it anymore and getting out became a top priority for my sanity. Jeff was toying around with the idea of taking my car to work on Friday. Of the 2 cars we own, only mine stands a chance on our neighborhood street. (Don't get me started on what I think of the county and their plowing. Oy!) When Jeff siezed up my mental state, he offered to work from home again on Friday and allow me the opportunity to be free roaming Fairfax with 2 kids. Fortunately it didn't come to that. I went to the gym at 6:00am on Friday and saw that the street was driveable (barely) and could be done with his car. He was able to go to work and I was able to be mobile in my own set of wheels.

A windfall came when a great mommy friend emailed on Thursday night offering to pick Ian up on Friday at 10:00am and have him hang out with them all day. She has 3 boys of her own (the youngest is 2.5 months old, the middle is Sam's age, and the oldest is Ian's age) and is one those moms that makes it look easy. I took Sam and traveled a little more lightly having only one child with me. Sam excelled at being out on Friday. We went to Costco, Wegmans and got the car emissions/safety inspection done. She was giddy with joy and was standing outside ready for our outing by 9:15am. Ian wasn't getting picked up until 10:00am. She indicated she wanted to be put in her car seat and sat there perfectly content for 45 minutes until it was time for us to leave.

At the end of the day, after dinner was eaten and the dishes cleared, Sam (completely on her own) put on her shoes, and got her coat and hat on. She went to the door and tried to open it to leave. I am not sure where she thought she was going, but she wanted back out. And, in a very, very bad way. Once she realized she wasn't going anywhere, she just stood there and cried. So I tried to distract her with a lollipop. Ha! All she did was come take the bag of lollipops from me and go back to the door to try to leave. I guess she had a taste of the good life (getting out) and wanted to experience it all over again.

A few friends and I had registered for a very fun sounding 5k race on Valentine's Day in Pentagon Row- 'Love the run your with'. Unfortunately the race got rescheduled due to unsafe running conditions. I can hardly blame them and now know why I usually don't register for races during the height of Winter.

While there were a few disappointments on events getting cancelled, the one thing that wasn't a disappointment was the wii. This brilliant gaming system came into our lives just in the nick of time. Ian, Jeff, and I have been having a fabulous time playing it. And since Ian pretty much gives himself an aerobic workout from jumping up and down playing each game (even when you only are required to move your hands), it has been a great form of exercise for him. In the morning I've been able to continue my workouts using EA Active and feel better about being stuck indoors.

I am looking forward to getting back into our routine and Ian getting back to school. I am also looking forward to sunshine-filled days with warmer weather spending hours on end outside at the local park/playground. Yes, I like to dream big. :)