Who said it doesn't snow on the coast?

You know those movies where the perfect family wakes up to a beautiful holiday morning with a magical snowfall, and all the kids go into their parents' room and pile onto their bed? Well, yesterday, that scenario became as much a reality as it ever will be--except that the beautiful holiday wasn't Christmas, it was Jane's birthday (well, and except for the fact that we are far from the perfect family--but whatever). What a perfect gift for a perfect girl. It was so fun to see snow falling outside onto an already snow-covered ground as we were all awaking. The kids downed their pancakes (which I only made because it was Jane's b-day) and piled on their warmest clothes to head outside. On his way out to work, Brian stopped--for what I'm sure was supposed to be a couple of minutes--to pelt the kids with a couple of snowballs, and I even put up my hood and grabbed Brian's Crocs to head outside with the camera. (Having snow reminded me of what a wuss I am in the cold.) Oh, my heavens--it was so fun. I saw that the kids had attempted the first tier of a snowman before heading for the tramp, so I went over to see if I could make something more of it. At first, the snow was really tricky to ball together as it was super dry and looked just like little tiny Styrofoam balls, but Brian and I persisted, and pretty soon, he and I--with the help of the kids--were rolling three huge balls around the yard. When they were ready, we transported them to the front yard and started to build. (The two bottom balls were so heavy that Brian had to pull up his truck so that we could use the tail gate to rest the second ball on until hefting it (the second ball) onto the first.) We got the body stacked and then rounded up some goods to make our snowman complete. And man, we were-and still are--proud of that snowman. That sucker was around 7 feet tall! ( I say was because today, he's hunched to only about 5 1/2 feet.) I even called the local paper to brag--confident that we had surely constructed the biggest snowman in town. But anyway, that kind of family experience (aside from being a strange form of aphrodisiac) is just one of those things that makes me so grateful to have a family. You know what I mean? THAT'S the kind of thing I want to to enjoy throughout the eternities.
Jane's birthday continued to be a wonderful one. Brian made her a real "poodle house" to replace the ones she is constantly trying to fashion out of paper scraps, cracker boxes and scotch tape for all of her little stuffed animals. And Brian is totally of the 'go big or go home' mentality, so this little dog house is no little thing. He actually stripped cedar down to make little tiny shingles, cut little skinny pieces of siding, carefully installed and trimmed out the windows, installed real bamboo flooring and painted the exterior and interior. INcredible. And Jane loved it, of course. Brian had anchored five mylar helium balloons to it, so it was very reminiscent of that darling little house on Up.
Just like on Camp's birthday, we all went bowling and then had dinner, and then headed home to have cake (the one that Becky had made when she was here in October) and oreo blizzards with the Larsens. So fun. I really am lucky to have Jane. She is seriously the most wonderful little five-year-old ever.
And Jane's birthday would be a big enough thing on its own. But this time it also happens to be the shot gun for what I'm sure will be a fabulous week of events. Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, of course (and man, it seems especially lonesome this year to not have any extended family with us :( ), Friday I'm going shopping--which is a really big deal--and Saturday we'll be getting at least one of our two trees. Can you see me madly rubbing my hands together? I CAN'T wait.
I'll admit that I've already been listening to Christmas music--but only in the car, because there is a radio station that is already playing it and THAT is just more than I can resist. Come Friday, though, there will be music inside...

Oh, and one more thing. Next week is my birthday (the reason I'm able to justify my shopping on Friday) and you know what that means....it means My Favorite Things. It means I get to dance.