Snow!

After a practically snow-free winter last year, we had our first good snow of the season just a couple of days after Christmas. Somehow, I found the energy today to dig out all the snow clothes and suit everybody up. My three bigger boys had a great time, but we learned that Benjamin does not appreciate snow. He was dismayed at the way the snow stuck to his gloves and clung to his boots. He spent his time using his hands to brush the snow off of his boots, coat and hat and then would cry when he saw his gloves were now snowy again. Snow, it seems, is something only to be prodded with a snow shovel from a safe distance or looked at as someone pulls you around in the sled. He did smile a few times in the sled but I never caught it in a photo. Whenever the sled stopped he would say "Go, go." When I finally decided that I was done pulling the sled around and told him "all finished" he cried until David John took pity on him and started pulling the sled around. What a sweet boy.
We also learned that four is definitely the maximum number our sled will hold so we'll need a second sled for next winter when we have 5 boys.
Gabriel and Elijah teamed up in an epic snowball fight against the neighbor's house (Sorry Chris and Danielle!). I think the house won that round, but they've definitely weakened its defenses. I'm sure the next fight will be a different story. (For the record, I made a strict rule they could only throw at the bricks, not the windows.)