January snow days

We have decided that the weather here in Maryland is quite odd. It fluctuates a great bit...even during the course of just one day. We had one slight snowfall in mid-December, but our real first snow didn't come until these past few weeks. The picture below is of the beginning of those snow days. These are some of Nikolas' neighborhood friends....Nikolas is hiding somewhere under the table. What a party-pooper! =)

As you can see, it barely snows inches and it doesn't stick around very long. The kids have to run out and make the most of it while they can. During another snow day (pictured below), Nikolas and I invited over a friend from Nikolas' class (and his older brother). The family just moved here from Korea. I'm helping their mom learn English and she's helping me with my 'listening ears'. =) Danny, Nikolas' friend, has autism. He and Nikolas share a unique friendship. It's heartwarming to see Nikolas' soft side when he is with Danny. Anyway, it was so funny to watch the boys sled. Danny had never been sledding before, so the boys took the sleds up the little (and I do mean little) hill beside our house. Nikolas and Danny would start at the top of the hill on the same sled together but halfway down Danny would get excited and throw Nikolas off the sled. If you look closely, you can see Danny in the red sled and Nikolas laying on the ground behind him. =) They would laugh and laugh and do it over and over. Had any other of Nikolas' friends done that, there would have been a fight....but not with Danny. Kids can be quite amazing.

So, after a day or so, the weather warmed up just enough to melt the snow and refreeze it again at night. Everything was so slick for days. The kids would run outside and play and all of us moms would just hold our breaths and hope nobody would get really hurt when they inevitably fell. The moms were WAY more concerned than the kids, of course!

It sure made for a pretty sight at night when the lights reflected off the ice.