Today was a snow day as the flakes were flying fast and furious at 6 a.m. when the decision had to be made. The forecast called for five more inches throughout the day, though we ended up only getting about three and it really was easy to get around in town. But that wasn't known at decision time, so there we all were. I stayed home from work with the boys. John went in a little late after scooping the first layer off the driveway.

We met some friends at school for sledding (see, we could easily get there, just couldn't go inside) and had a good time. Edward's buddy had a snow board that he wasn't too keen on, so Edward kind of monopolized it. His success can be attributed to perseverance and the fresh, wet snow that kind of slowed things down. The sledding actually wasn't that great as the sleds kept getting bogged down in the wet, mounding snow, but it was perfect for a newbie snowboarder.


After that it was home for lunch, where I ultimately lost my cool in the face of one of my own worst childhood traits reflected in my children. The boys took minuscule bites of the macaroni & cheese I prepared (after they rejected my suggestion of pb&j) and announced it was gross and wouldn't eat it. It happened to be a new variety I'd seen on special--Betty Crocker's attempt to enter the mac&cheese marketplace. I couldn't tell you what was wrong with it. I despise mac&cheese in all forms so of course I didn't taste it and wouldn't know how it differed from any other brand. (Note: these are boys who do not object to the generic store brand in place of Kraft.)

Having spent 20 minutes gagging over the smell while making it, I can tell you I was not a model of maturity in response to their rejection. I announced that they would eat it or nothing else the rest of the day and stormed down to the basement to do some laundry. Sorting the whites and colors apparently soothed my soul and returned my sense of empathy so that when they came down to say they weren't hungry anyway, I took a deep breath and asked if they wanted something else instead. Cheese and crackers all around.

We totally used to do that to my mom as kids and I honestly don't know how she didn't just slap a jar of peanut butter on the table and walk away. We would only eat certain kinds of pizza (certainly not the fundraiser pizzas my parents spent hours making to support our Catholic school.) We would not stoop to the level of jar pasta sauce--homemade or nothing! My grandma once made us mashed potatoes from a box and we acted like she was trying to poison us.

It's a good thing time travel is impossible because the 2013 me probably would have bolted back today to throttle the 1983 me. Oh well...

We followed up this lowlight with an hour of quiet time--e.g. separate corners. Boys to their rooms and me to a quiet lunch and a Gilmore Girls rerun.

Here's what the boys were up to--I'd say it was a win for all. (Note: LONG videos; I simply don't have the energy for editing.)





Then we snuggled on the couch with Swiss Family Robinson, the Disney movie, and they boys were totally enchanted with the multi-room, multi-level treehouse. We didn't finish though because although school was canceled, rec department basketball went on as scheduled. The first night for both boys. Edward had told me he only wanted to play this time if he got to be on a team other than the Bulls (he's played in two other sessions and just happened to be a Bull each time; he did NOT want a third Bulls t-shirt.) There was no way to know ahead of time, but with a huge sigh of relief, he was given a Pacers t-shirt for this session.

Daniel is in his first class and just as intense as he was about tee-ball last summer. Of course, if he ever becomes a big star (ha!) we'll have to recall that he went to his first practice in worn out, left-over-from-Edward shoes I found in the garage because we'd left his regular shoes at school.

Didn't slow him down.