Preschool and Snow

Not much happening right now. I'm not even sure what to write about. I've started working with Sam on preschool stuff. I'm happy to say that so far I have been consistent in doing it with him every day. He gets pretty excited when it is time to do "school" so it helps keep me motivated to work with him on it. To my surprise he asks to do math first every day. I've purchased the Primer from Math-U-See and he seems to be picking up the concepts really well. Most of what we do is reading lots of books and he likes to color or play with his cars while I read to him. I think both of the kids are figuring out that they can play while I read but it has to be done quietly. So far, just me threatening to stop reading and doing school seems to help calm them down. I know they won't always have this passion for learning so I'm trying to take adantage of it while I can.

We haven't really been doing much else. We've driven around and explored town a little bit. We have been trying to go to church consistently and we have been marveling at the change in weather here in Colorado. When the forecasters predict snow, we actually get snow. Unlike Oregon where they say it looks like we will be getting snow, oh wait, maybe a little later, maybe tomorrow, oh we won't get snow. So I buckle down, buy the groceries I need to wait out the snow storm, plan activities to keep the kids and I from going stir-crazy, expecting the world to shut down because we got snow. But that isn't what happens. Everyone gets up like usual to go to work, bring out their long-handled scrapers and snow brushes that every car seems to carry and go to work like normal. I look out my patio door and marvel at the normalcy of everyone's actions even though there is 3 inches of snow on the ground. I actually ventured out into the snow and drove around and the snow is so completely different out here it is hard to describe. It is dry and powdery, easy to drive in, and such a part of normal Coloradian life that most people don't even think about it. It doesn't leave you completely soaked either like NW snow does. I was so completely shocked when Dwayne came home with this little fact the other day. The last time people remember getting rain out here was back in August and it was only for an hour or so. Pretty much all our precipitation is in the form of snow. I've been told that March and April will be when we see the most snow. When everyone else is expecting rain for all their flowers, we get lots of snow. But get this, it melts within a day or two. For example, yesterday we got 3 inches of snow. Today, it is 50 degrees and completely melted. So people were right. We get lots of snow but there is such fluctuation in temperature from day to day that it doesn't stick around long. So life goes on normal here despite the snow and I'm trying to get out of the habit of hunkering down and hybernating any time I see white flakes fall from the sky.