Christmas Advent Calendar: Day 9

Six inches of snow has fallen in our neighborhood since Midnight and according to weather reports, there's 15" of snowfall at our Wisconsin cabin. I'm glad we decided to return home late last night and have a chill day in the comforts of our home today. The snow is a beautiful sight when you're not white-knuckling it on the freeway somewhere. 

For breakfast this morning, Andi made holiday pancakes for his girls. He used cookie cutters to make Christmas trees, stockings and snowflake shapes. It was something super easy and fun to do and the pancakes were the perfect size for Tory. She gobbled them right up. (Tip: spray the cookie cutter with cooking spray before adding the batter inside or it's hard to flip the pancakes on the griddle).

Later today, Andi and I decided to bundle Tory up in her snow suit (for the real deal this time!) and play in our snow-covered backyard for Day 9's Christmas advent calendar activity. Originally, I'd planned for us to visit a live nativity scene today, but the fresh powder in our yard was too pretty not to play in. Plus, the weather says we're suppose to get 10+ inches by the time this storm is done and in addition, the wind's suppose to pick up tonight causing white-out conditions. Sounds like a perfectly good excuse to stay safe and comfortable at home.

Going outside to play in the snow is no easy feat. It's a 15 minute process getting all three of us dressed in hats, mittens, coats, snow pants and boots. When we were all ready, I stepped outside on the patio deck, placed Tory down in the snow and she lost it. Full on scream-fest. Apparently, it's a little intimidating standing in snow up to your thighs for the very first time. So, scratch the idea of "playing in the snow" off the list. Tory stopped crying if I held her, so we snapped a few photos of us together in the snow instead of playing in it.

Goofy Daddy started throwing snowballs and the watering can at the tree, causing big clumps of snow to fall off its branches and that seemed to warm Tory up to the idea of being outside. She still didn't want to stand or play on her own, but we did hear a few giggles out of her.

Just look at all the snow on our deck railing and it's still falling as we speak. It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas around here!