Bonfire and Snow

So, thought I’d tell you about this past weekend and the events we haven’t been able to do for 3 years in Florida.  Saturday, it was a balmy 28 degrees with frozen ground and iced-up water hoses. We decided that instead of making a huge eyesore of a brush heap in our front yard for the Nashville Department of Metro Works to come by and pick up in another 3 months (seriously) we opted for a bonfire in our backyard. It was quite fun. The boys enjoyed it, and to keep it legal, we roasted hot dogs over it for lunch!! 

    Yeah, one of our neighbors said that as long as we could justify the fire for eating purposes or the like, we were fine to have a fire.  Not that anyone would notice or care in our dead end of a dead end street in our subdivision. So, Avery pulled out the now useless bottle of lighter fluid (we have a gas grill now) and Jen watched a bit nervously as he poured it on the logs.  I think I remember telling him, “Not to much, babe, please” and he said, “Sure thing”.  After I said that, I watched for another 30 seconds or so as he emptied the bottle of lighter fluid completely onto the pile.  Great. Now we’ll have a scorched lawn for the spring!  I decided I’d go and get the garden hose just in case. Well, the garden hose was frozen solid and even the spigot it was attached to was frozen solid. I just said a quick prayer that we just wouldn’t need water and went back to watch.  Thankfully everything was fine. The dogs were good, and the logs are all taken care of!  

Sunday was lazy and wonderful. No events. lots of naps and good books.

Monday morning we awoke to snow! It was the first snow that actually accumulated at all since we’ve been here, so that means this was the first snow Av, jr and Parker have ever seen.  It wasn’t more than 1/4 inch, but it was something and we got out and experienced it!  Av wanted to eat the snow…had to be careful where he got it!  He also had learned all about snow in playschool the week before, so he felt educated in the ways of snow. He asked for a snowman, which I was able to make…all 3 inches of it!  He asked for a snowball, which we made  about 6 – he picked up the first one and said, “I’m gonna throw it at you mommy?”  So a small snowball fight happened.  Parker was chatting with the snowflakes, which he thought were pretty cool. It was the first time outside he didn’t try to take off his mittens and hat, and he was enjoying the snow, I believe.  We came back inside for a change into dry clothes, had some hot cocoa and took good naps. It was a great day. The worst part was that Avery was not home to enjoy it. Stupid work!