Proof of Life

We finally got our first real snow for the 2013-14 winter.  It's only about 3 inches but we'll take it!  Please and THANK YOU!

Every year in winter I see this view...

The neighbors (not just that house, but all around us) have a nicely shoveled/snowblown driveway and pristine, lovely sparkling snow.  And now look down.  That's our front yard and driveway.

Now, here's the view out of our back windows:

Left side of the fence...our yard.  Right side of the fence, our neighbor's pristine, lovely sparkling snow with nary even a squirrel track, much less hundreds of dog and kid tracks.

Proof of life at our house.  LOTS of it.

I may not have pristine, pretty snow, but I DO have a built-in work force to shovel the snow.

But keep in mind that will NEVER happen again this winter - the kids begging to shovel the snow.  From now on it'll be begging to go out and play, doing the whole, tortuous 15-minute-per-kid-snowsuit-hat-gloves-wool socks-boots routine.

After which in less than 10 minutes they'll all be whining to come back inside, thereby triggering the whole even-more-tortuous-20-minute-per-kid-peeling-off-snowsuit-hat-gloves-wool socks-boots routine-leaving-melted-snow-everywhere, which then triggers at least one of them slipping & falling on the wet floor, thereby triggering MORE whining and wailing.

But it IS CUTE proof of life, good thing they have that going for them.

I'm sitting here now puzzled about why exactly it is that I like the snow??  It never looks pretty at my house.  It turns my kids into begging, whining hyenas.  It hides the dog poo in the back yard so you can't tell until it's too late that you're stepping in it.  *ponders another one of life's big questions*