February 19: Our Snowman

With the weather starting to warm back up after our big snowfall last week, the kids have been itching to get back outside and play in the fluffy stuff. Although by now, the fluffy had become slushy; not the right texture for a sled ride through the yard but great packing for a snowball fight or, better yet, a snowman! A few years back the kids and I had attempted to construct a man of snow, but that project never quite prospered. Instead, we were left with basically a one-lumped amoeba like creature with no head upon which to place button eyes, a carrot nose and corncob pipe. And in the front yard of all places! Not a real site for neighbors and passerbys. But, today, oh today, it was a much different story. First, we elected to build in the backyard to avoid acquiring a reputation throughout our subdivision. And, the kids are 2 years older now so I knew I wouldn't have to tackle this one alone. Unfortunately, I soon discovered that 2 years a difference does not make regarding the attention span towards snowmen. Their interest was still not anywhere near the same level as mine. Sure, they started out with a bang, highly engaged in rolling the ball that would serve as the base for our new friend. But, they quickly found the swing set to be much more fun and bailed on me shortly after we had wrapped up our ground level. Like a trooper, I forged ahead despite the mutiny I was seeing in the ranks. After getting the little guy assembled, and I do mean little - our snow buddy is about 3" tall, I recruited the kids back into the project with the attractive offer of allowing them to add the eyes, nose and mouth; as well as a snow cap and scarf to give 'em a little personality. We couldn't locate any buttons big enough for eyes, so my wife was able to secure some foam shapes that did the job. We used one for the mouth, as well, and used a short carrot as the final piece for his happy face! Shortly after getting a few pictures with the kids on either side, my son wanted to knock the poor fella down. So much for trying to establish some pride in the end-product of hard work. Thankfully, my son has a quite a few more years before he'll be going out to secure his first job in the workplace.