their second christmas

"santa made it christmas again!" noah exclaimed when he and his brothers saw the snow through the window.  my children's eyes widened, and all their little faces lit up so bright.  their expressions were identical (get it, identical?) and made me warm and fuzzy all over.

i wished i had a camera to capture their picture-perfect expressions.  that little voice inside my head - you know, the one that you dont always listen to but should always listen to - bugged me about the camera that morning, telling me to charge its battery every time i passed by it.  we planned to go to pump it up, jr., a place filled with bouncers and inflatables, and which we've been to countless times since the boys were two years old.  there wasn't a special event scheduled that day.  why would i need the camera?  ... then it snowed, the first snow of the season.  for all that i can remember, it might have even been the first snow of 2009!  and it happened while we were at pump it up, jr.

where did the snow come from?  i tracked the weather on the web all week and looked at it that very morning.  all i saw was rain!  but there they were, out of nowhere, large, ivory, beautiful flakes floating down from the sky.  isn't the science and technology of meteorology dependable?

shortly, all but one family at pump it up, jr. disappeared.  like a naive, young woman (though i'm actually not that young anymore), i said to the grandmother, "i guess everyone's gone out to play with the snow."

like a wise, older woman, she replied, "nope.  they're all worried about how they're getting home."

of course.  when it snows here, even the slightest, everyone reacts as if the state has just declared an emergency.  it doesn't help that the city and its surrounding metro areas share a total of only two or three snowplows either.  consequently, the roads were congested everywhere, and commute time compounded exponentially!  we had to pick up jason from work that afternoon, and the drive home usually takes no more than five minutes.  but on this day, it really would have been quicker if he had walked home!  sadly, though, due to the traffic, the sun set before my sons could play outside.

i was worried the snow would melt overnight.  yes, worried.  i was probably the only one who felt that way while the rest of the state's population felt relief.  my sons love, love, love the snow.  they truly wished for it this past christmas.  but in the immediate forecast were warmer temperatures and rain.  just our luck.

elijah jumped out of bed the next morning and looked out the window.  we were so elated that our backyard was still heavenly white.  after breakfast, the boys gathered at the sliding door gazing at the snow that they so longed for.  like puppies, they whined and rapped at the door to be let out.  or was that coby?  i was having my coffee at the moment, and my children had already learned that i should not be bothered when im still sitting with my cup of kona.  however, the predicted weather threatened to melt the snow, so i had to compromise.  but only this one time.

i went to the closet and dug out their snow outfits.  it's been a year since my kids have had to wear them that i forgot how long and tedious they take to put on.  so i formed an assembly line in hopes to speed things up: 

helped jonah put on his bib (jumpsuits, i have no clue why they're called bibs).  told jonah to put on his socks and boots.  helped elijah put on his bib.  jonah's foot got stuck in the middle of the boot shaft.  told elijah to put on his socks and boots.  held jonah's boot and tried to shove his foot down into it.  tried again.  told jonah to keep trying by himself.  helped elijah with his boots.  elijah's first foot made it all the way in, but his second got stuck.  tried to shove it in.  got it.  jonah got his boots on too.  helped noah with his bib.  told him to put his socks and boots on.  helped jonah and elijah with their jackets and told them to put on their gloves.  shoved noahs feet into his boots and helped him with his jacket.  told him to put on his gloves.  let the other two out into the backyard.  let noah out into the backyard. 

total time = 15 minutes, give or take a few.  not bad!  whew!

this time, my camera battery was charged, and i captured my sons' picture-perfect expressions as they relished in their gift of a second christmas from santa.