Snow Day!

She finally got one...her first snow day of kindergarten! School was dismissed early yesterday and we knew before bed time that there would be no school today. DD slept until 7:30, Lane rested a little longer because the poor guy had the flu Monday night. He only threw up once...but it was alot...and in my bed! Ugh! I'm not good with the flu, but have made it through yet another bout. I have such troopers for kids...they know their momma is a scaredy-cat when it comes to vomit. Anyhoo, after staying up most of the night watching a Dora movie and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, he's feeling back to his old self. He even asked me last night, "Hey Mom? Can we stay up really late & watch movies and eat freezies like we did last night? That was so fun!" Dig has always been such a happy-go-lucky kiddo!

Ryan got a snow day today, too. He's been spending some time online watching a live cattle auction. We all bundled up and waddled ourselves over to Mom and Dad's for lunch. The kids had been begging to play outside, they don't yet understand the word blizzard! Our trek over to Balvanz's reminded DD and Dig of the Little House on the Prairie episode when Mrs. Beadle, the teacher lets the class out early for Christmas break and a quick moving blizzard catches everyone off guard and several kids are stranded in the wind and snow. When we got home from lunch, we decided to get out my Little House activity book and do some fun winter activities.

Of course...the first thing on the agenda was SNOW CREAM! My dad introduced the kids to this the winter we stayed with them while Ryan was gone during the week in Southern Iowa. They love it! I just happened to have some cream left over from the rice pudding we made last night and oh it made the ice-cream taste so good! Just snow, cream, sugar and vanilla!

The kids thought it was pretty silly that the only time the Ingallses would have had ice-cream was in the winter when it was so cold outside and not during the summer when the treat would be so refreshing...they think they are pretty lucky to be able to have ice-cream any day they want!

Our next project was Ma's Clove Apples.  The activity book said that the "apple would not spoil, for so many cloves would keep it sound and sweet." Well, we had very few cloves left, so our apples will definitely spoil but it was fun and smells so good!  We decided after this 'epic blizzard' we'll head to the store and get more for another time. 

We finished off with Molasses-on-Snow Candy.  Just so happens were running out of molasses, too.  So we made just a tiny batch.  Which was just fine because the kids didn't care for the taste of it at all.  We just boiled molasses and brown sugar then spooned it over fresh (and clean!) snow until it hardened.  Our kids didn't like it, but I'm sure back in Laura's day it would have been a real treat! 

(notice the sign on my stove...'Love Grows Best in Little Houses"...Little Houses in Eldora, or Little Houses on the Prairie!...no doubt my favorite books & show of all time!)

After spending a fun day snowed in our own "Little House", I imagine how exciting, yet scary a big blizzard would have been in the late 1800's and I am reminded how blessed we really are.