Our story so far....: The "Miser Brothers" and Many More!

We have been snowed in for many days now (five and counting) and although we bought chains for the van, the previous experiences trying to drive on the snow/ice have been too frightening to try it again - I'll wait until the snow melts a little to venture out in the streets. Because of the snow and the snow and let's not forget, THE SNOW, we have been forced to spend hours and hours at home and after a while you start wondering what to do, besides eating, of course! The kids played outside in the snow for the first few days but when the temperatures dropped below 20F I did not let them play outside anymore - sorry, I am still afraid of the bad colds of last year that ended up turning into pneumonia! Hopefully, the temperatures will get higher as of tomorrow and the kids will be able to play in the snow, AGAIN. To say the least, we have played everything, from board games to Wii games to pretend play but my favorite part has been to watch Christmas movies with the kids. We have watched the classics and the new ones and I even tried to force "White Christmas" on them...that didn't fly but it was worth the try! After a few activities together, we kind of disperse about the house, just to meet again to share a meal, three times a day - that has proven to be pretty cool - and then, there we go again, off to enjoy each other and re-discover who we are and what makes us a family.

The snow is even bringing us closer to our faith and our traditions. In an effort to get creative I decided to introduce the kids to the "novena" of Baby Jesus so Victor, Frankie and I have prayed together and sang "Villancicos," Christmas Carols in Spanish, awaiting the birth of Baby Jesus on Christmas Day. Singing and making noise with our maracas and tambourines fill our hearts with joy and puts things into perspective, especially for me. Instead of getting grouchy and complain about the snow, I have to admit that being forced to stay at home with the family for a looooonnngggg time - longer than any hurricane had kept us indoors before- has made me thankful for the opportunity to kick back and relax, wondering what the next game will be and what to make to eat!

Yeah, I have to admit that a white Christmas does look very pretty but after so much snow this week, we could use a visit from Mr. Green Christmas himself: Mr. Heat Miser!