House Wife at Someone Else's House

Today it snowed about an inch and a half. So naturally, the whole beach shut down, including the schools. We were immediately recruited for babysitting. Most times I really don't mind babysitting. It's like playing house with a real house and real kids. The best part is, when we babysit Matt's cousins, we just go to their house and they play with all of their own stuff (instead of swinging OUR cats around and touching every button on OUR electronics).
Today I woke up really early (which after one of my best friend's birthdays, is usually harder than most) and we headed over. Most of the cars were going so slow I was laughing. It was as if someone had sifted powdered sugar all over the beach and these people are driving like it's lava or solid ice... some people just can't handle the snow...
We get the low down about lunches and homework and the moment she's out the door, I'm off doing my thing. It's not even lunch yet and (providing they don't destroy the house in the next 5 hours...) everything is spotless! The plan right now is to let them play in the snow as long as possible. The more time they spend outside, the less time they are pulling games and toys out inside.
I've sipped coffee and watched Matt help with division problems, I've folded tiny leggings and camouflage pj pants, I've dusted family photos in big black frames, I've bleached the counters, cleaned the dishes, put away puppy toys and hung up backpacks and I'm being totally honest when I say that I loved every minute of it. One day we'll need to do all of those things for our own house. Dust my own face in it's frame and fold my own little one's little clothes. It feels so natural and remedial to clean and put things where they belong. Now the only thing I'm missing is the love of filling bellies (including my own) with yummy lunch.

Snow on the beach seems so surreal to me. Things usually seen covered in tourists with swim suits, or sand were now all white. Sand dunes, signs about driving on the beach, the First Flight Memorial were all covered in huge flakes. The whole way here I wanted to take pictures of everything with it's winter wonder. The only problem is, I only have my stupid camera on my phone. I felt like I was trying to paint a rainbow with 2 colors. You can't do a photo justice on a camera phone. Those are camera's are reserved for taking pictures for myspace or showing your friend's kids pictures of your cats...
I want a real camera that changes focus and lighting. I want to take real pictures.
Plus, what fun is a blog post without huge beautiful pictures?

Well it's time to fill those bellies.

Snow time like the present!

Winter Love!

Now that Thanksgiving is over, here's the Winter Edition of things I love!

Christmas!! (duh)

Best thing about the winter season? Easy. Christmas. The warm glow of christmas lights, christmas songs, the spirit of giving, it's all so cheerful and loving.

Christmas Cookies!

Going hand in hand with the first one, christmas baking is nothing but theraputic. What is better than mixing up holiday flavors, baking them, decorating every cookie differently while singing to christmas music and then watching everyone melt over how amazing they are? Nothing. Except maybe eating them myself.

SNOW

I really love the snow. I love how it muffles all the sounds outside. It's like dancing in the rain, but you don't get wet (unless it's really slushy snow). Sadly, down here on the beach, we hardly get anything like this picture. It's crazy how in Maryland, you can have 6-10 feet of snow (remember snOMG 2010?), and only 300 miles south, we get maybe an inch and it's such a big deal...

Scarves!!

They are so snuggly and it's so easy to have a million (so you can match). I also don't like to wear hats so this is what keeps my head/face area warm.

Ice Skating

I haven't gone in a while, but I really love to skate when I can. Between the love of dance, and the Mighty Ducks being one of my favorite movies, I couldn't get enough of ice skating when I was younger. I got pretty good for a while there, but got too busy in high school to keep up with it.

Gingerbread Lattes

Can't go wrong with ANYTHING gingerbread flavored. But only when it's cold. It just feels weird year round...

A few things I mentioned in the fall category also applies for the winter including:
Sleeping, Relaxing, Fireplaces, Eating carbs covered in cheese, and Miller's being closed.