It's 8:00 a.m. Do you know where my children are?

Caed cleared his plate by 7:18 a.m., literally and figuratively. "I ate my banana. I finished my flashcards. Now can I go outside?" he implored.

I conceded. 

Twenty minutes later both kids were suited up and ready to go. Which is pretty good time considering it took me twenty tries to get Dani's fingers properly aligned into her gloves. (Next year, I'm buying her mittens.)

So dear neighbors, you might be wondering what sort of mother allows her children to dig an elaborate "doggy city" of tunnels through the 14 inches of snow covering the backyard, who lets them run rampant and howl like--well like dogs, of course--and all of this before 8:30 a.m. You might be thinking about calling child services or perhaps animal control, but I ask you kindly to give me a chance to explain.

Who am I kidding? I don't have an explanation. 

It's 28 degrees, the sun's barely up on this Saturday morning, and the only thing my kids want to do is play outside in the snow. 

My explanation? I've taught them well.

Our first Maine winter - Caed, 3 yrs, Dani, 1 yr

Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go find my snow pants.

Our second Maine winter. Dani, 2 years, Caed, 4 years, Mommy, lots of years

Happy Saturday! Also, I realize this is confusing, what with it being mid-March and all, and me still talking about snow. But did I mention I live in northeast Ohio now? You can google "lake effect" if you're still confused.