Snowy

The other day I was wondering why I hardly have any pictures of snowy days, and then I realized that in order to take pictures of them, one has to actually, you know, go out in them. I'd much rather stay inside and do something I truly excel at: making hot chocolate. And warming people up, once they get home. I sometimes feel like my whole purpose in life is to Make People Warm. It's a high and noble purpose and I'm quite good at it, I must admit.

So most of my pictures of snow are taken from the back door or out of the window, like this one:

Daisy's brothers had all gone sledding while she was napping, and when she woke up she asked if she could go outside and play in the snow too. When I looked out the window, there she was, shoveling the entire driveway with her tiny shovel, like a poor little workhouse child.

Sam took pity on her and went to help.

The light outside was so beautiful that I was lured outdoors in spite of myself. There was just one colorful swirl of sky amid the darkening grey of the snow clouds. I love how the pale sunset colors came out so brightly against the whites and browns and blacks below.

And the slanted light on the snow was so beautiful! You could see the big flakes just sitting on top of each other, their separate crystals still intact, and glowing pink underneath.

I loved the lovely, pinkish light on Daisy's face, too.

When the boys finally came stomping and puffing into the house as it got dark, everyone was all rosy and tired. And then I had to make them warm. Which, of course, I was happy to do. And we even still had homemade marshmallows to eat with our hot chocolate! The kids informed me earlier this month, somewhat to my surprise, that making these marshmallows is A Tradition That Must Not Be Broken, so we've been enjoying them for a couple weeks. A pan full lasts a long time, even for our big family! I usually prefer my cocoa without marshmallows, but I seem to like these better every time we make them. I think we're getting better at managing the stickiness while spreading them in the pan, too. I like to just dip them in the foamy part of the hot chocolate and eat them like that! If you'd like to try them, the recipe is here.