The Perfect Gift

When the forecast predicted snow the second week of December, nobody believed it. Snow this early in NC? Nah...but I still put Lukie in his snowman jammies just in case we woke up to snow on Sunday morning. He peeked and saw...

THIS!!! A heavy blanket of snow had fallen overnight and was still falling when we woke up. It was completely magical!

Luke couldn't believe his eyes because the last time it snowed, he was too small to remember. He was mesmerized!

It was a gorgeous, heavy snow that kept falling all morning. And how fun that it happened on a Sunday morning when no one had anywhere they had to be. No matter how old I get, the same excitement fills me when we are gifted with a snow day!

So we enjoyed the snow from inside first, playing and eating pancakes. 

I was still enjoying a leisurely cup of coffee when my children demanded to go outside. And NOW! Relaxation time over; time to put on all those clothes. But they sure looked cute in them...

 

 And the house sure looked pretty in the snow. We headed over to the Boyles for some sledding...

 

where surprisingly, the pizza float turned out to be the fastest sled! The kids carved out a path down the Boyles driveway and took that pizza down the hill over and over again. 

Until we were so freezing cold, we had to go home...where the power had gone out! 😨 Not good; freezing kids who could not warm up in their house. We took quick hot showers and then dressed in as many layers as possible, but still little Luke's teeth were chattering. I bundled him up in a big blanket and snuggled him till he warmed up. Then luckily, an hour or so later, the power came back on. Whew! 

We were able to enjoy a fun dinner and night before going to sleep surrounded by white. 

 

Snow day #2 is never as fun as snow day #1, because that's when the boredom sets in. Good thing Luke had just gotten all kinds of cool toys for his birthday...no boredom allowed in the Fork house!

 

 Snowball fight and then the kids discovered that our ivy hill made the perfect spot for sledding...

They whizzed down the hill, crossed the yard, bumped over the curb and skidded to a stop on the other side of the street! 👀

 I was the traffic watcher, and they did it again and again until it was too dark.

The kids ended up missing a few days of school thanks to our rare December snow. Finally, the 8" of  snow dwindled to a point where we could only muster a snowman the size of Luke. :)

Later that week, the kids went back to school, activities resumed, and everything went back to normal. But everyone recognized what a gift that early snow was. It happened only nine days into December, but still stress levels were pretty high at that point. There were birthdays to celebrate, presents to buy, Christmas cards to send, holiday events to attend, etc. When it snowed, everything stopped. We were forced to be still, we were reminded to be quiet. We spent time with each other, we relaxed, and we had fun. It was the perfect Christmas gift. To be reminded that the holidays are not about that long to-do list and all the busy-ness. It's about peace. And for a few, short, beautiful white days in December, we experienced that wonderful peace.