Snow day, second verse same as the first

We are in the second round of snow days this winter here in Nashville. According to natives, this is an unusual winter- my neighbor commented that this is the most snow his nine year old has ever seen. We have 4 inches- not much for this Midwesterner! Nashville + frozen precipitation = total panic. We had an ice storm in mid-February and the public schools were out for the next two weeks. Two ENTIRE weeks. That was the second half of February! Thankfully Caleb's school was only out for 1 week (private school means no bussing) and my parents were here to stay with him once Brian and I had to go back to work.

This week we are on snow day number 2. All of us were off yesterday, but Caleb's school is still closed today so I'm taking time to be with him since my parents are back in Wisconsin. Caleb going to a school rather than a traditional day care has its pros and cons. We love the feeling of the school and the community it creates- football games, a campus for the babies to take buggy rides, etc. But when weather hits, we find that they close for longer, like a school. Other daycares might have a late start, but Caleb's school is flat out closed.

So today I'm a stay at home mom. I'm pretty much always happy to be working and am looking forward to a career in ministry, but today I'm remembering how much I liked maternity leave. Maybe it's not having to go out in the winter? There was snow on the ground for 100% of the time I was on maternity leave. But I'm remembering once Caleb was past 6 weeks or so, there was a schedule we followed, and today I'm feeling the same way. There are snacks breaks, with milk for him and tea for me. Today there will be an outing to the grocery store, saving me a weekend trip. He's currently taking his first nap, and will take another later, an opportunity for me to get a jump on dinner. I have this image in my head, if I was a stay at home mom- lazy mornings with a real breakfast, a schedule of crafts and snacks, outings to the library, walks, etc. We are also saving money because at home Caleb wears his cloth diapers. This week I paid $8.99 for 18 diapers (Pampers) so at that rate, a cloth diaper saves 50 cents each. That's $3-5 per day! We use Pampers overnight, Target brand at school and cloth on the weekends/snow days.

Sometimes staying at home sounds perfectly idyllic. The reality is, 90% of the time I like going to work, knowing that Caleb is giggling with his friends, doing crafts at school and being cuddled by his teachers. It's not financially feasible for our family, but today that stay at home mom dream is awfully tempting...

Pulling out the usually hidden toys from the closet.

Real snow, not just ice!

Snow days mean homemade everything. Link to recipe below.

This is from the ice storm back in February.

Snow day fort! This is also from February, I just happen to really like that outfit on Caleb.

First snow outing! As you can see, we're especially unprepared. Those are socks on his hands.

In this amazing stay at home fantasy I also make homemade everything for meals. Yesterday that meant bbq crockpot chicken with homemade buns and cole slaw with homemade mayo. The buns are so easy and ten times better than storebought ones. Very little hands on time and you most likely have everything in your pantry. Same goes for the mayo- it's a Serious Eats recipe that uses a stick blender. It does not involve slowly drizzling oil as you attempt to whisk, which takes three or four hands. I would encourage anyone to try it- I'm not sure I'll buy mayonnaise again! 

I'm grateful for these little extra days that means time with our sweet boy who's growing up so fast.