Greetings from Crazyville: Baby, It's Cold Outside...

Ummm....Hello there, dear blog. Where have you been?! I almost forgot about you...almost.

Well, it's a new year and what better to do than regain control of this family's lil' blog. However, I do have a bit of an excuse. During the summer, my computer started complaining every time I turned it on...seriously! Then, shortly after Thanksgiving it started sending out smoke signals...a white cloudy mess in the form of the letters "SOS" could be seen coming from motherboard. The smell was anything but pleasant, but I tried to ignore its call for help. When others started complaining about the odor coming from my little "office", I decided I should do something. Long story short, the computer saw a "doctor"...aka: my brother...and is now functioning properly. Thank goodness 'cause commenting on Facebook and sending emails through my phone is anything but ideal. One word... AUTOCORRECT!!! My nemesis.

Thankfully, my camera was still working so I have a gazillion images to cull...it's like opening presents on Christmas!

Rewind just a bit to a few weeks ago...to the day before the dreaded "Polar Vortex" hit. In case you live somewhere warm (please keep it to yourself if you do!), I'd like to take a minute to share with you the truly beautiful day that preceded the days of all days. See, this day was wonderful! The temperature hovered around freezing, there was little wind, and the snowflakes that fe6l from the heavens above were light and airy and HUGE! Shortly after the snow started falling, the earth was white as white could be! It was just gorgeous...and this is coming from someone who's not a fan of snow.

Knowing that the following day was going to be anything but ideal, I encouraged the kids to frolic in the snow. Two of them eagerly suited up...and if you've ever dressed a kid in snow attire, you know this is no small feat! The older two were beside themselves as they ran to and fro..."Hey, mom! It's HOT out here!" So I wouldn't go so far as to say it was "hot", but man, it was quite pleasant.

And the snow...It was PERFECT packing snow! Perfect! If I didn't encourage snowman-building, what kind of mom would I be?! So off they went...starting on one side of our property gathering snow. Then, rolling...and rolling...and rolling...and rolling...what started out as a small snowball into one ginormous, extremely large, way-too-heavy-to-move snow boulder!

Logan got to the point where he could no longer move his monstrous snow creation so he decided to chill...and if you know Logan you'll know that this did not last long!

Once the snow boulder made its way to the front of the house, we (or mostly I) decided it'd be best if we built the rest of the snowman right in that very spot 'cause there was no way I could move the mountain that was made..and I'm guessing that renting a crane to move the snowman's base wouldn't be too cost effective for this coupon-clipin' mama.

Logan was able to finish his snowball in order to create Frosty's midsection. Let me tell you, though, that I did not consider "how" the snowman's belly was going to be put into place. Besides the fact that I almost needed hernia and back surgery immediately following the placement of Frosty's tummy, I am proud to admit that Merisa and I were able to finish building the life-sized snowman. Word to the wise...lift with your legs!

The kids finished adding the details such as hats, scarves, and carrots. Finding sticks to serve as arms was a little more tricky considering the 12" of snow on the ground! But man, that was some great snow!

And don't you think for one minute that I forgot about our smallest child. Earlier as the older two kiddos were putting on their snow gear, I asked the youngest if he would like to go outside and play in the snow. Thinking he would be thoroughly excited to break out of the house, I was completely shocked when he shouted without hesitation...

"NO!!!"

So instead of making snow angels, lil' Levi observed from the warm, cozy indoors, which looked a little like this...