Winter Weather Fun

Since apparently the weather here in Ohio is confused, I will quickly clarify that it is NOT winter yet. N.O.T. W.I.N.T.E.R. It's barely the middle of November for Pete's sake (sorry Pete)! But, weather in Ohio is kind of like a roller coaster ride if you will (in how it's unpredictable and quickly changing), and the fall weather is no exception.

Why have I just spent the last paragraph talking about weather you ask? Because this past Tuesday we got our first real snow of the season. I'll be honest--part of me (that Scroogy part) was not happy about it (remember how it's only November and winter hasn't officially started yet and Ohio winters can feel f-o-r-e-v-e-r long?). And yet--it was so pretty (winter wonderlandy, you know) and the girls were so excited, and the tender part of my mommy heart just had to give in to those important considerations and promise the girls that we would play in the snow after naptime.

So once the girls were up, we quickly dug out our winter boots, threw on our coats, gloves, and hats, and headed outside.

 

It's like a new discovery every year when you're young:

        "Snow!" (which Bethany calls "No!", which of course is a little confusing if taken out of context).

The first taste:

See why my Scroogy heart gave in?

Remember these boots and coat? Love me some cute hand me downs.

 

Bethany liked the snow, but being the neat girl that she is, was a little "Huntly" (think the dog in Curious George) about it (as in, this stuff is interesting and nice, but it's messy, so I can't get too excited about it. She is a lady after all.).

But neighbor dog...now THAT'S exciting (which is what she's running to get here)! We'll just pretend she was feeling this way about the freshly fallen snow. 

And because little footprints are so. darn. cute...

Remember how it's really fall?  These leaves are proof, my friend. (These leaves also slightly break my heart, since Travis and my dad had literally raked our yard the day before--with the blessed help of our very kind neighbor and his ride on lawnmower--major tender mercy!).

 

 

 I love the feeling of this picture--like Grace is walking through enchanted woods:

It was HILARIOUS to watch Grace stalk through the snow, taking these huge, funny steps.

 

And sweet to see Bethany often trailing not far behind big sister:

 

 

 I love all their little footprints:

And my heart just melts every time I see Bethany put her hands in her coat pockets. So stinkin adorable!

Yesterday (since it was thankfully not snowy again--two days in a row is all I can take in November--but still cold), we busted out Bethany's new finger paints and had some indoor fun. I feel like a little bit of a failure as a mom saying this, but this was pretty much the girls' first time finger painting. *cringe* Lots of watercolor painting around these parts, just not finger paints. But now I can have my mom card back. :)
It took a little encouragement from me for them to get going (they were like the puppies on 101 Dalmations--"Mom, is it really ok for us to get dirty?!") but things got messy pretty quick. ;)

 

 

So fun!

Grace, like the organized/trained from her experience with watercolors girl that she is, dutifully did one color at a time, wiping her hands in between...

...until she noticed how crazy Bethany was getting with her paints...

 

(Messy hands!)

 

 ...then jumped on to the multi-colored bandwagon too:

Grace's creation:

And Bethany's:

Looking back on the fun we've had this week, I guess "winter weather" really isn't so bad. ;)